The Path I Walk is None but Mine Own
by DarkSky4Ever
Summary: Harry finds himself with the chance to become a vampire and gain numerous advantages over Voldemort and he takes it. His life changes for the better as he learns to control his new abilities while his love life takes a turn toward a wizarding taboo. HPDM
1. The Offer

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter, and that in itself is a tragedy.**

**Also, I consider this the first **_**good**_** fanfic I've written, besides my oneshot(s), though that's because my other stories were written a few years ago, so please disregard them.**

**Other than that, please, do enjoy ^_^**

As I sat in my room back in number four, Privet Drive, I mulled over the happenings of the end of my fifth year. The events at the ministry had been a disaster, and my inability to perform occlumency had almost cost myself and my friends our lives. Not to mention Sirius. Yes, everyone said that it was a miracle he hadn't died when Bellatrix Lestrange hit him with a Stupefy hex. Of course it wasn't the spell that would have done him in, but the fact that he was so close to the Veil, it was a miracle that he didn't fall in. Everyone in the Department of Mysteries knew that once you went into the Veil, you never came back out. It was that he hit his head extremely hard during his fall that did him in.

So now Sirius was hidden away in Hogwarts, in a magical coma, if you will, unable to receive better treatment at St. Mungo's, what with him being a fugitive and all. What made it worse, though, was that it was _all my fault!_ If I just would have trusted Sirius and given his gift of the two way mirror a try, then none of this would have happened! Granted, Sirius was expected to wake up any day now, and knowing Madam Pomfrey, that prediction would come true. Still, that knowledge did nothing to stop me from waiting anxiously for the letter informing of my Godfather's consciousness, though.

I heaved a sigh and reluctantly managed to pull my gaze away from my open window, and moved toward my desk. All this brooding wasn't good for me, or at least, I imagined it wasn't. What good would it do anyways? What's done is done, and there was nothing I could do to change the outcomes of my decisions, no matter how hard I might wish. No, there would never be an easy solution to my problems, just because of my name. The life of _Harry Bloody Potter, _the self-proclaimed Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Bloody-Die, could never be simple because of the prophesy and the expectations the wizarding world had for him.

'No,' I thought, 'I can't change the past, but by having more knowledge, maybe I can change the future.' With these more productive thoughts, I pulled out my most recent Transfiguration textbook and began to work on my summer homework. I threw myself into the work with much enthusiasm, if only to keep my mind from wandering down darker, more depressing paths as it had been doing earlier. Besides, now that I _wanted_ to do the work, it was actually interesting, not a burden like it was at school, when it was assigned. It was in that moment that I figured out that you had to _want_ to do something for it to not be a burden.

The essay was on the theory of human transfiguration, a subject that we had not yet breached during fifth year, but would be tackling in full force during our sixth. As I read, I learned that human transfiguration was one of the hardest and most dangerous kinds of magics there were, because if you took something too far, or did something horribly wrong, the affects could be irreversible. Of course, the text went on to state that we would not be doing such dangerous transformations in school. No, those more difficult forms would have to be pursued outside of school, if a career so called for it.

The majority of the lesson was on the smaller, finer points of this precarious art, such as the key concentration on a single body part when transfiguring it. It read, "One must focus on the change, picture it in their mind with no other thoughts interrupting, and say the incantation clearly with the most precise of wand movements." It wasn't much different from what we learned in the past, though this stressed perfection, something I had never been motivated to achieve in the past, but now felt I would be willing to do anything for.

It was several hours later that I put down the book and grabbed my quill and ink well to begin the writing of my essay. I must say, I was rather surprised my relatives, Aunt Petunia in particular, wasn't yelling at me for being lazy and not cleaning something or another. It was then that I remembered that she, my Uncle, and Dudley had gone out for the day, to do whatever fun things a 'normal' family does together. I smiled to myself, the first real smile I've had in a while, and laid my quill down. I stood up, exited my room, and made my way downstairs to the vacant kitchen to get myself some lunch. I was rather hungry for I had worked straight through it, the time now being half past one.

I pulled out some leftover turkey and mashed potatoes from the fridge, put some of each onto a plate, and reheated it in the microwave to just the right temperature for me to eat. The timer went off and I eagerly pulled the food out of the microwave oven, grabbed a fork, and began to shovel the food into my mouth. I knew for a fact that if Hermione was here, she would be admonishing me for my lack of table manners, but at the moment I didn't care.

I finished my food and washed my dishes by hand. Once I was through, I knew that I should have headed back to my unfinished essay, but I just couldn't seem to get myself to concentrate at the moment, so I opted for a walk instead.

My hand was on the front door now when I hesitated, thinking of the order members who were no doubt watching the house at the moment and would surely follow my when I left, leaving me without the privacy I desired. I withdrew my hand, turned on heel, and dashed quickly back up to my room where I hastily grabbed my invisibility cloak.

Once again preparing to leave, my cloak on and my wand on my person, I exited through the back door, for the order members stationed outside surely new of my cloak and would be highly suspicious should the front door open and close with no one exiting it, and the being who opened it invisible as well.

The feeling of being outside again was wonderful, even though the full extent of the breeze didn't reach me under the cloak, that problem would be solved when I was far enough away and could remove it for the necessity to hide under it would be gone.

My paced quickened at the thought of getting away from Privet Drive, and there was definitely a slight bounce in my step, along with a slight smile on my face. Summer vacation had just begun a week ago, though with the restrictions on me by the order, and the chores and occasionally dangerous repairs put on me by my uncle left me feeling caged, unable to lead my own life. Just a small outing like this allowed me to feel more in control, more independent.

I had been walking for over half an hour, still invisible, when I finally came to the downtown shopping district of Little Whinging, Surrey. I dipped down a dark alley where I slipped off the silver material that was the invisibility cloak, folded it precisely, pocketed it, and walked back out into the afternoon light to join the muggles busy with their shopping.

I had a good few pounds on me, which I thankfully had converted over from galleons earlier in the year, which made shopping like this possible for me. There were several things I wanted to get for my use only. Just last year, I found that I wasn't too shabby of an artist (I noticed it when I was doodling on my potions notes) and so I wanted to get a sketchbook and some decent art pencils. Also, a bit of fictional reading wouldn't hurt me either, so I intended to go to a bookstore. If I just kept reading informational text this summer, my brain would turn to _mush_, though I normally would have thought it the other way around.

The shopping was uneventful, my sketchpad and drawing tools acquired, as well as some books by the titles of Captivated, The Sight, Black Tattoo, and lastly, Haunted. They were all rather thick books and would provide many hours of content entertainment later in the summer.

Having nothing better to do, I continued milling in and out of shops, looking, but not buying, until I came to a small store that sold jewelry, from elegant and expensive to gothic and cheapish. I edged more toward the lesser gothic-looking items and found that a silver pocket watch with a Celtic design carved into the lid had caught my fancy. I picked it up with reverence and popped the lid over, the face of a clock done in roman numerals staring back at me, the second hand making its way around the face.

I felt urged to buy this watch, knowing that I would use it, but that I already had a perfectly good watch as it was. I justified my purchase as my old watch was nearing three years of use and the glass face was scratched. I paid for the watch and exited the store.

I adjusted the time to the correct on my new possession and noted that the time was now six forty-three. Despite my late lunch, I was feeling rather ravenous, so I walked over to a sit-down restaurant with a more casual atmosphere and waited to be seated. A young waitress with an overly enthusiastic smile took me to a small booth for two set for one. I ordered a Pepsi and sat there in silence, looking over the menu, waiting for her to return with my drink.

The waitress, whose name escaped me, came back with me drink and asked "What would you like to order this evening, sir?" Sir. I had never been referred as that by any creature but a house elf before, it just seemed strange to me.

"I'll have the steak, medium well, with fries." I told her. She smiled again as I handed back the menu, and left to go tend to some other customer. I looked out the window and noted that the shadows were stretching and creeping over everything as night fell and the darkness became more pronounced. I realized that I should be afraid right now, for my life from Death Eaters, as I now had to make my way home on foot through the dark, far from the warded protection of my home.

Also, I realized, I should fear what my relatives would do to me because they had specifically ordered me not to go outside because they didn't want the neighbors to see what a _freak_ I was. My food came. I no longer dwelled on what I should fear as I began to eat.

I was tired of fearing everything! Voldemort, his minions, my family, the disapproval of my friends; There was too much of me being afraid in my life, so I just put it out of mind for now, though it would, of course, come back to haunt me later. It always did.

I finished my meal, paid my tab, and left a generous tip for my waitress, Miss NoName. The bell rang as I exited the restaurant and began to head home. Once I came to the end of the shopping district, I once again had planned to slip into an alleyway to pull my cloak on, but was met with an unexpected sight in the alley I currently looked down.

I couldn't quite put together what I was seeing at first, only a man, around the age of twenty-five, with a woman pressed up to the wall, and his face in her neck. I couldn't see the woman's expression, for her face was hidden by the visage of the man, so I couldn't tell if she was enjoying this attention or not. I realized I should do something if this man was trying to rape her, but I just stood there, looking on, unsure of why I didn't act.

Several minutes later, the man pulled back from the woman, and for the first time I saw her expression of dazed pain, which, after a look into the man's eyes, drifted into blank confusion. The man then turned toward me and I saw the scarlet red substance dripping from his chin. 'Blood!' my mind screamed at me. 'He's a vampire!' I took and unconscious step back from him.

The vampire, fangs protruding in an amused smile, wiped his mouth on a white cloth he pulled from his pocket, and turned to face me fully as he finished and slipped the now blood-stained fabric back into his coat. He stared at me intently, then asked, "Aren't you scared, Childe?" I shivered at his melodic voice, it was just so perfect, inhumanly so. 'How fitting,' I though.

I pulled myself together and replied, "No, I am not." And it was true, I wasn't. My earlier observation of fearing too many beings and things flashed back into my mind, and suddenly, for the moment at least, I felt unable to fear.

"Oh, and why is that?" Questioned the vampire.

I glance around to see if there were any muggles on the street with us and when I was sure that there weren't, I pulled out my wand and pointed it at him. "Because I could kill you with two words." I said confidently.

The vampire smirked, cold and unnerving, though the expression didn't make his face any less beautiful, now that I could see it better, my eyes adjusting to the dim light. He had shoulder length strait blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and he was dressed in a stylish ensemble of black. I was still taking in his appearance when he suddenly blurred momentarily and disappeared.

In a moment, he was standing behind me, speaking. "So you have magic, eh Childe? Even so, you are no match for a vampire's speed and strength. Also, you might want to remember that a vampire is 'dead' in the sense that they cannot be killed by normal means, killing curse included."

My body was rigid as he spoke to me, just waiting for him to harm me, kill me even, for my insolence toward him. I _really_ should have paid more attention in Defense Against the Dark Arts so I would know more about vampires.

We stood together like this for several minutes before I began to relax and the vampire walked in front of me. "You really are a strange Childe." He commented amused. He was smiling at me with no anger or hard feeling, no harmful emotions what so ever, and that confused me, and he read that on my face for he continued, saying "I will not hold actions against a young Childe such as you."

I stared at him, trying to figure out how I should react, what I should do next, and then just shrugged, and decided that if he meant no harm, I should just go with the flow. I slid my wand back into my jeans and relaxed my grip on my shopping bags, releasing the tension in my body.

"Tell me Childe, what is your name?" The vampire asked, noting the change in my stance.

I replied with a prompt "Harry Potter. And you?"

His eyes widened in recognition of the name, and that confirmed my past musings where I wondered if all intelligent magical creatures new my name. "Victor Von Zhet" he replied in turn, only pausing for a moment after I had asked the question.

"Hmm, strange name." I commented nonchalantly.

Victor smiled wryly. "I suppose it would be, to one as uncultured as you." He said teasingly.

This was very strange for me, strange indeed. I was having a seemingly normal conversation with a vampire, something that DADA had led me to believe was impossible, that every vampire was a bloodthirsty killer, but I knew for a fact that the woman Victor had fed on was still alive, for I could see the slight rise and fall of her chest in the alley. I realized then that DADA could be wrong vampires, for they were about every werewolf being vicious and evil, Lupin was living proof of that.

Victor looked at me strangely, probably because of the expression I wore while thinking these things through. "Well, then Childe, I believe I will leave you to be on your way now."

He turned to leave as I looked on, but suddenly his leaving just felt wrong. "Wait!" I called, stumbling after him. He stopped and turned to look back at me, an eyebrow raised inquiring for what I wanted. I felt so stupid then, unable to come up with a suitable reply, my mouth opening and closing in a manner I would have thought to resemble a fish.

"How about I walk you home? That way we have some more time to talk." I swallowed and nodded, Victor's gaze unnerving. He seemed unusually intrigued by me, though I hadn't an inkling why.

We began to head back to Privet Drive together, him keeping pace with me, because his legs were longer, as he had a few inches on me, standing at what I guessed was about five foot eleven. Much taller than me at five foot eight, but nothing on Ron's six foot three.

"So, what were you doing out this late anyways?" Victor asked after a bit of silence, trying to strike up a new conversation. I glanced his way, contemplating my answer.

"Just a bit of shopping." Was my short reply. It confused me. I had wanted Victor's attention, but now that I had it, I wasn't sure what I wanted from him, not even what I should say.

Victor chuckled. "Why so nervous, Harry? Don't bother to deny it, I can smell it on you. Let's just treat each other like old friends, so call me Vick. That's what my friends call me."

I smirked at the way he had lightened the mood. Here was a God knows how old vampire giving me, a not even sixteen year old boy permission to treat him as though we had known each other our whole lives. It made me kind of glad, though, in a strange way, that there was a being out there, human or not, that was kind enough to do something like that just to make me less _nervous._

"Alright then, Vick." I said, enunciating the syllable that was the vampire's name, "You mind if I ask how old you are?"

He just smiled at me. " Three hundred twenty-four." He told me matter-of-factly.

I just gaped at him. I knew vampires could live forever, granted if no outside force took their life, but I also knew that the Wizarding World housed the occupation of vampire hunter, and many vampires had trouble reaching their three hundredth birthday, and Victo- , no _Vick_ had surpassed that. I felt my respect for him growing.

After my asking his age, things between us lightened up, and we began to chatter randomly about whatever subject came to mind, ranging from how we liked the weather that night, to the death we've seen in our lives, Vick's experiences considerably outnumbering my own.

All too soon we reached the street of Privet Drive and we had to split ways. "Well, Goodbye then." I said nonchalantly, like I wouldn't miss this random vampire I had just met that night.

"Oh no, you're not getting rid of me that easily." Vick said with good humor. "We can still meet each other, maybe get some coffee sometime." He said, and I smiled gratefully at him, and he returned the gesture. I once again turned to leave, but Vick's voice halted me in my tracks. "You know," he began, "you would make a good vampire." I swiveled on my heel and stared at him, mouth agape. He looked a bit sheepish now, as he continued. "If you ever find yourself wanting to be a vampire, the offer stands. I wouldn't mind turning you, and putting in the time to teach you our ways."

I stared. What else could I do? I couldn't believe he had just offered to turn me into a creature of the night! Was he insane? I mean, he was a vampire and I liked him, and yeah, that thing he did earlier with his speed was kind of cool, but that didn't mean I wanted to be a vampire! . . . did it? My eyes narrowed from somewhat horrified to calculating and considering. Would it really be so bad to be a vampire? Vick didn't seem too horrible, and he had even said that the killing curse didn't work on vampires. That would be really handy in defeating Voldemort, if his favorite curse couldn't do me in.

Finally, after several minutes, I asked, "If I let you turn me, would I have to leave here and go with you?"

He nodded. "Yes, that would be necessary for me to teach you our ways. Oh, and I wouldn't be making you into a full vampire yet, just a half vampire. The only difference is that you still age, 'cause you're too young for the vampiric virus to fully take effect. I can infect you with it, but you wouldn't be a full vampire until sometime between your eighteenth and twentieth birthdays." Vick supplied, hoping to annul any deterrent I may feel for looking like I was fifteen for the rest of eternity.

I regarded the vampire closely, looking for any reason to doubt what he just said, but found none."I'll think about it." I said, my comment ringing with finality, hinting that we should now depart.

"How about we meet again. Soon? How about eight o'clock at the café on South Street on Thursday? That will give you two days to think things over. You can give me your answer then." I nodded my affirmation, then walked away, and stepped into the house. It was only when I was inside that I realized I had walked the whole way home without my invisibility cloak on and that any order member stationed outside would have seen me and would probably report back to Dumbledor that I was partaking in the company of a strange older man who looked at least ten years older than me. It was then that I decided that I didn't care as well. I had something much more important to consider at the moment without the Order of the Phoenix breathing down my neck.

"Where have you been boy?" Uncle Vernon was shouting at me as soon as I came into sight. "You didn't do your chores, either! We had told you to stay inside so the neighbors cannot see you for the freak you are!"

"I- I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon." I stammered, for some reason unable to stand up to this man. I couldn't meet his eyes either, so my eyes wandered around the room and found my cousin, Dudley, smirking at my being in trouble, and my Aunt Petunia looking at me with contempt.

_SMACK!_ Uncle Vernon hit my face hard, snapping my neck to the side, cracking some of the vertebrae. "You do not disobey us, boy!" my uncle screamed, and punched me hard in the gut, and I doubled over, gasping, on the floor. All the while, Petunia was looking away and pretending not to see what was going on and Dudley wasn't even trying to stifle his snickers. "Now go to your room, you freak, and don't you dare come out until tomorrow!"

I was lefty lying on the floor, a disgraceful sight in this house, and I knew that my face was sporting a nice red mark that would fade by morning, and a bruise on my midsection that would take at least a week to heal. I was only glad that Vernon had not taken my shopping bags as well, as that would defeat the purpose of going out today anyway. Well, that and meeting Vick.

Vick. The vampire. The one who said he would make me one as well if I so chose. The one who said he would take me away from here if I chose to be a vampire. That would be another plus to accepting his offer, to get away from here. Oh yes, I had much to consider, I thought to myself as I walked painfully up the stairs to my room that, to this day, was still littered with Dudley's broken things.

Reaching my destination, I pulled open the door, shut it tight, locked it, and deposited my things on my desk. I then proceeded to replace my invisibility cloak into its rightful place in my trunk, and finally flopped exhausted down onto my bed. That's when I really began thinking; to be a vampire, or not to be a vampire. That was the question.


	2. Decisions Decisions

**DISCLAIMER: still sad, sniff sniff**

**NOTE: I tried to edit this the best I could, but hey, I'm not perfect and not the best at grammar, so there are bound to be mistakes. Please go easy on me '^_^**

I know for a fact that it was well after three a.m. before I fell asleep last night. I was exhausted, but my mind would not rest, leaving me wide awake, staring at the ceiling, and sending many glances to the glowing red numbers on my digital clock. Whenever my mind would clear and I was about to drift off, my mind would instantly snap back to Victor Von Zhet and his offer of immortality.

I had just lay there, and when I would finally come up with a decision, that I would become a vampire, a stray though would run itself through my mind, effectively annulling all previous decisions. When I had finally decided that I wouldn't become a vampire, the same process would repeat itself. It was a vicious circle, until I completely wore myself out in the early morning hours and drifted off into a blissful sleep.

Now, this morning, the sun was shining annoyingly through my window, with Hedwig perched lazily, still dozing, in her cage. I remembered what had awoken me, it was the screech of my Aunt yelling for me to "Get my lazy ass out of bed and make breakfast!"

I sighed and complied with her wishes, knowing Uncle Vernon would punish me severely should I ignore her. I knew for a fact that I would rather get up early and wait on my relatives than be introduced, once again, to the buckle of Vernon's belt.

Quickly, I stripped off my pajamas and pulled on some faded blue jeans and a green button down shirt that Hermione gave me for Christmas last year, saying that it "Matched my eyes." I had to agree with her on that, it did flatter me rather well.

I trudged down the stairs, my pace slow and lazy, eyes still half closed from sleepiness. My aunt graced me with a condescending glare once I reached the kitchen, and spat, "Get on with it, Boy! The rest of us have things to do today!" Which was mostly true. Vernon would be going to work once he ate, and Dudley would go out to meet his friends and terrorize the children of the neighborhood. Aunt Petunia would obsessive compulsively clean the house from top to bottom, and I, most likely, would be forced outside to do yard work in the scorching summer heat.

I grabbed a few pans, laid bacon in one, cracked six eggs in another, and popped four slices of bread in the toaster to brown. In no time, the food was done, and even though I did all of the work, I was the one with the smallest portion; the rest of what should have been mine was given to Dudley.

Everyone finished and I cleared the dishes, as usual, and waited for my aunt to hand me a long list of chores to do, but surprisingly it was Uncle Vernon that came up to me and instructed me of how my day would go. "Listen here Boy, and listen good." He began threateningly. "Your Aunt is having some friends over today, and none of them want to have your sorry excuse for company, you hear me? So scram, and don't come back until eight o'clock tonight!"

I gaped at him, glad to be out of work, but still wandering what I was to do for over twelve hours. "Yes, Uncle Vernon." I replied politely, as was expected.

"Good." He said, apparently convinced that he had gotten his message through to me. Vernon grabbed his brief case and headed out the door, where he started the car and sped away, though not over the speed limit, to his work.

I watched the car leave from the front window, which I had pulled the curtains back from, and once it turned the corner, I retraced my earlier steps back to my room where I grabbed a decent bit of money, and a small black backpack that had once belonged to Dudley, but like the majority of his possessions, he had cast it away just a few short weeks after receiving it.

In the backpack, I place one of my new books, Black Tattoo, a potions textbook that I desperately needed to read, my sketch book, a few pencils, and of course a sharpener should they break. I checked that my wand was in my pants pocket before I was satisfied that everything was in order for my long day out. "Goodbye, Hedwig. See you later." I said to my beautiful snowy white owl, who just hooted contentedly as a response to my farewell.

I exited the house quicker than I thought I would because Petunia was shooing me out angrily, saying she had a lot of preparation to complete before her friends arrived, and she didn't want me in the way. Even Dudley had already left, gone to his friend's house.

Unsure of where to go, I wandered down the street until I came to the park that I often frequented last summer, and sat down on a bench, where I watched some kids play. They were cute, I had to admit, but their parents angrily glaring at me for being a 'troubled teen' kind of ruined the picture. I had let my eyes drift closed as I sat under the warm sun, just enjoying the fresh air and the relative freedom I had, while still knowing the Order was currently watching my every move. I started to muse over who it was, standing in the shadows at the moment, watching me. Could it be Lupin? No, I countered. The full moon was tomorrow night, so it wouldn't be him. What about Mundungus? Nah, I figured they wouldn't trust him to do a good job after what happened last year.

The question I was pondering was soon answered for me when someone said, "Wotcher, Harry." And I heard a body plop down on the bench beside me. Tonks; of course. I opened my eyes to look at her, and was greeted by her deep purple hair. I grinned at her. "Nice," I said.

She quickly figured out what I was commenting on and smiled happily back at me. "Thanks, Harry. I'd never done this color before, so I thought I'd give it a try. Compliments are always welcome." I chuckled at her friendly manner, when an idea popped into my head.

"Hey Tonks, do you want to spend today with me? My aunt kicked me out of the house, and I've nothing else to do."

She looked at me and considered. "Sure, Harry. I mean, I have to watch you anyways, so why not have some fun while I'm at it?" she said and her expression became one of excitement that she wouldn't just have to stand around all day. "But you're paying. I don't have any muggle money."

I laughed for real this time. "Of course. What kind of gentleman would I be if I let the lady pay?" She smacked my head playfully at my sarcasm. "Come on then, let's go. The crowd around here isn't exactly very friendly." I commented, while looking around. All the aforementioned parents were glaring even more now, and whispering amongst each other too, most likely about 'that delinquent boy and his older, purple haired girlfriend.'

We got up and left, heading toward the shopping district that I had been at last night. Last night. I met Vick last night. He offered to make me a vampire. What should I do?

I realized that I had gone quiet in my perpetual musings and glanced at Tonks, who was gazing at me worriedly. "All right there, Harry?" she asked.

I smiled serenely and nodded. "Yeah. Hey, how about we go see a movie to pass the time?" I asked her.

"What's a movie?" she countered in confusion.

I looked at her in exasperation, but then soon wiped it off my face to be replaced by patience when I remembered that Tonks was a pureblood, and probably _didn't_ know what a movie was. "It's kind of like wizard pictures." I explained. "They move, but they tell stories, and they have sound too. You can hear everything the people in it are saying, and they usually have background music too, to make it more dramatic. All in all, they're really cool. Some are funny, some romantic, and others are scary. There should be some of each at the theatre, so take your pick."

Tonks was wide-eyed, trying to take in all the information I had just given her, though it didn't seem like a big deal to me. Finally, she nodded and said, "How about something scary? I'd like to see the muggle take on horror."

Not ten minutes later we came to the theatre and, true to Tonks' request, I bought us tickets for the current horror, Summer of Screams. I bought us popcorn, salty with Tonk's request, two large Cokes, and Tonks picked out four different kinds of sweets, eager to try them all, not caring that movie food was expensive. Well, either that, or she didn't realize, having never been to a movie before.

We chatted about random magical topics while we waited for the movie to start, and whispered to each other through the previews, Tonks' excitement growing. Finally, when our feature presentation was starting, I quickly, yet quietly reminded my purple-haired friend, "Remember, be quiet. NO talking until its over." I told her firmly, and she nodded, face serious. The fact that she was taking this so seriously amused me, so I chuckled quietly. Tonks eyed me questioningly, but remained quiet because the movie was playing.

I tried to pay attention to the movie, I really did, but being in the dark kept reminding me of my encounter in the dark the night before. Throughout the gore of the movie, I was unable to really take it in, once again running over the pros and cons of being a vampire. Eventually I became increasingly pissed off at my inability to make a decision, so I came up with the logic that I would make a list of the reasons I should become a vampire, and the reasons that I shouldn't, and the category with the larger amount of reasons would be the one that I chose.

'Pro vampire: killing curse doesn't work, will be stronger and faster, etc. Con vampire: Will have to drink blood, What would my friends think? Etc.

My lists kept going on in that manner and the movie was nearing its end when I had tallied my reasons up. Pro vamp had eleven reasons, while Con vamp only had seven. That settled that, my decision was made. I would become a vampire, and now that my decision was officially made, I would _not_ go back on it.

The screen went blank and the credits started playing and we left soon afterward, Tonks only tripping once on our way down the stairs. We threw away our trash while Tonks kept babbling on and on about how great the movie was. "I mean, did you see that guy's head get chopped off? I had no idea blood could squirt that far!" I smiled at her antics.

"It probably doesn't." I informed her as we left and headed even farther down town, the time now being eleven forty-three. "The movie directors only have it shown like that to make it more interesting."

Tonks stopped for a moment. "Oh . . . Well, it WORKED!" she yelled at no one in particular.

We shopped together for hours after that, granted I paid for everything as Tonks only had some galleons and sickles on her. I got her sweets, a new t-shirt, and a few muggle bracelets, with lunch and dinner mixed in between. I was spending a lot of money, yes, but I didn't know what exactly was going to happen to me after I became a vampire, well, half vampire for now. If this was what it took to make one of my friends happy, especially since I didn't know when I would be seeing any of my friends again, I was happy to comply.

It was dark now and late too, pushing seven fifty-eight, and Tonks and I still had the walk back to my house to look forward to. "Is it really that late already?" Tonks had gasped when I had told her the time. "I'm supposed to switch shifts with Arthur at eight! I'm going to be late and he's going to wonder what happened to us!" she was panicking. "Well, don't just stand there, come on!" Tonks grabbed my arm and pulled me along after her. Did I say walk home? Sorry, I meant run.

We made good time, arriving only fifteen minutes after the hour. As expected, Arthur Weasley was pacing worriedly in the street in front of number four, muttering to himself.

"Over here, Arthur!" Tonks called when we were close enough, though soon enough we were standing right beside him, both of us gasping for breath from out run.

"Where were you?" Mr. Weasley exploded, though I'm not sure if it was at Tonks, me, or the both of us. "I've been so worried! You didn't show up at the arranged time, and when I went to ask the Dursleys where Harry was, they said he was gone! I've been in a right panic because of you two!"

"Sorry, sorry," Tonks tried to apologize, and then continued on with a more appropriate explanation. "I had seen Harry at the park earlier, and then we got talking, and then we decided to go do something fun together and then . . . and then . . ." she said, her words rushed and somewhat hard to decipher.

Mr. Weasley's anger seemed to be diminishing and now he just seemed to be glad that we were both alright, though a keen amusement was beginning to dominate the red-haired man's face. "You two spent the day together? And did what, exactly?" he asked teasingly, his tone implying that we were on a date, making my face go red, but Tonks was oblivious as always.

"Well, first he took me to a movie where we watched all these people get massacred in a moving picture, and then we got lunch, and then we went shopping and he bought me all this awesome muggle stuff, and then we got dinner, and then shopped some more!" Tonks' speech had slowed from the rush it was earlier, but it was still quick and excited.

Mr. Weasley raised an eyebrow. "Did he, now?" he asked, glancing at me, a small smile on his face.

I decided I had to say something, to lessen the elder Weasley's suspicion that I happened to fancy Tonks. "My family wanted me out of the house for the day because my Aunt was having company." I explained. "I met up with Tonks at the park, and I wanted to go downtown, and since she would have to follow me anyways, I invited her along with me." I finished.

Mr. Weasley nodded, apparently satisfied with my explanation. "For future reference, be on time, alright?"

Tonks looked abashed, and once again replied with this with a, "Sorry,"

"Well, I'm gonna head in now." I told the strange pair and was amused when they both replied with a goodnight at the same time. I walked up the driveway and entered the house, still smiling, and managed to avoid my relatives as I quickly slunk my way up to my room, where I promptly fell asleep as my mind was no longer troubled with the decisions I had faced last night.

I woke up the next morning to an owl hooting at me, one whom I knew wasn't Hedwig, for the sound she made was distinctly smoother. I grudgingly opened my eyes, rubbed the sleep out of them, and slipped my glasses on so I could see what the owl wanted, if only to shut it up so it wouldn't wake my relatives.

"Shhh," I told it, but it was too late anyways. I heard movement from my aunt and uncle's room, so I quickly relieved the strange owl of the letter it was carrying, and then it flew out of the window, not waiting for a reply. I slid the letter into my top desk drawer just in time as my angry, purple-face uncle barged into my room with an furious cry of, "Boy! Why the hell is that bloody owl making so much noise?"

"It wasn't Hedwig!" I protested, but that only seemed to make him angrier.

"Well then, why the bloody hell are there strange owls flying in and out of my house? Hmm? What if the neighbors noticed? I refuse to be blamed for this freakishness you bring to this place!" Then he hit me. Hard. Right in the ribs; I knew I had some bruised ones after that. I dreaded doing my chores today because my ribs would be aching the whole time. "Now get up, boy, and get breakfast made! Now!" with that, Uncle Vernon left me to get dressed. Oh, how I was glad that I would be seeing Vick tonight, and would hopefully be leaving this place for good then as well.

I fixed breakfast quickly, and was forced to go without any of it today. Soon after that, I was given a pair of sheers and told to trim the hedges around the house, front and back, and then I had to mow the lawn, weed the flowerbeds, water the plants, and finally begin to repaint the fence a light beige color. One of the stipulations on this work was that I had to have everything but the fence done by lunch or I didn't get any. Needless to say, I missed my second meal of the day as well.

I was just replacing the lid on the paint to go in for dinner, wiping the sweat from my brow, when I remembered the letter I had received earlier, but had not had a chance to open. Luckily, after dinner I didn't have any more chores to do, so I could read it then. I went inside and washed my hands well, and pulled out a large splinter I had gotten from a rather nasty section of the fence.

Dinner for the Dursleys consisted of meatloaf with mixed vegetables and biscuits, but I was to have none of that, no. I was given a bit of lukewarm chicken broth with some bread and cheese with water to drink. I did not complain, but ate in silence, waiting for seven thirty to come so I could head to the specified café to meet Victor Von Zhet. That would definitely be the highlight of my day.

I cleared the plates as usual, and then headed up to my room where I glanced at my clock. It was around six thirty, so I had plenty of time to read my letter and get out of here.

I pulled the envelope out of my desk, slit the top open, and pulled out the parchment that was inside. It read,

_ Dear Harry,_

_I trust this letter reaches you well. I'll get strait to the point. Sirius woke up late last night, and I wrote to you as soon as I had the chance, so hopefully it will have reached you in the morning. Sirius is doing well, joking away as usual, and is completely coherent, which, according to Madam Pomfrey, means his recovery is even farther along than we had originally though. She says that we should be able to take him back to the Black Family Manner in a few days. Wonderful, isn't it? Sirius would have written to you himself, but he was having a bit of trouble using his hands correctly, they were a bit shaky from being still so long, but I expect he'll be writing to you as soon as he is able. I only hope that you'll be able to read his terrible handwriting!_

_ Your friend,_

_ Remus Lupin_

The letter was short but to the point, and I was positively elated by the news of my godfather's progress. Yes, I was glad he was well, but then I began to wonder of the next time I would be able to see him. I though again of how I had no idea what was going to happen to me after tonight, but I wasn't sure if that was a bad thing. If there was anything I truly needed right now, it was change.

I pulled out a piece of parchment, a quill, and an inkwell to write a quick reply. It read,

_ Dear Sirius,_

_I can't tell you how glad I am that you're finally awake! I was starting to worry since you had been a vegetable for over two weeks! Remus says you're acting like your usual self, I'm glad. I really miss you, I can't wait to see you again!_

_ Your godson,_

_ Harry Potter_

I slid my letter into an envelope and wrote _Sirius Black_ in a neat cursive on the front and prepared to send it off with Hedwig, but then though better of it. If I was going to be leaving with Vick, I would prefer to keep Hedwig with me until we reached our destination. I wanted to make sure Hedwig new were to find me, I would be incredibly depressed if I lost her or if anything happened to her.

With the thought of leaving in mind, I began to pull everything I wanted to take with me out of my drawers and placed it all carefully and neatly into my trunk, which I had magically expanded before I left Hogwarts this past year so it would hold all of my things. Textbooks and other school items went on the left, while my clothes and robes went on the right. Anything else, like my sketchbook and fictional books went in the smaller compartment in the middle. My invisibility cloak was the only thing I left out.

I glanced at the clock. Only fifteen minutes to go. To pass the time, I let Hedwig out of her cage where she perched on the back of my desk chair. I sat on the edge of my desk and fed her her favorite owl treats and stroked her black speckled, white feathers. I gave her many a compliment until the clock flashed 7:30, signaling me to go.

I hastily replaced Hedwig in her cage, giving her one more treat, and then I slipped my invisibility cloak on, left me room, and made my way down the stairs and quickly out the back door. My stride was long and quick and, though being careful that the cloak didn't expose my feet, I found myself turning onto South Street and arriving at the café just over five minutes early. Vick was already there, I saw him sitting at a table outside, sipping a mocha.

I walked over to him, both excited and nervous. "Hi." I simply said, and took a seat.

Vick smiled warmly at me and pushed an untouched cup of some unknown coffee product over to me. "Hello to yourself. That's a French vanilla cappuccino, by the way." He said and sipped at his own drink. I tried my own and found it to be burning hot, but delicious and creamy. I would have to get this again some other time, I thought to myself.

"So, have you made your decision?" Vick prompted me.

I sipped my drink again. "Before I tell you, would you mind telling me why you offered to change me in the first place? I find myself rather curious."

Vick sighed and was silent for a moment, his drink all but forgotten, and he seemed to be searching for the right words to answer me with. "At first, you intrigued me. A young human who appeared to know what I was, and yet wasn't afraid. Then you go and pull a wand at me. It was all incredibly interesting and I found myself wondering what you would be like as a vampire. I was going to leave you to go on with your life, though, at least until you called me back, and I began to walk with you and talk with you. Now, having lived so long, I am an incredibly good judge of character, and you struck me as the kind of person I could get along well with, and the more I got to know you, the more I wanted to change you, so I offered. I would never turn anyone without their consent." He paused for a moment. "Also, some of my motivation came from you being Harry Potter. Having you as one of us would assist every vampire who doesn't want to serve the Dark Lord. You see, not all of us want to follow him blindly, but those who don't can't fight for what they believe in because the light will not accept them. I thought that, with you, some of us, myself included, might have a chance." He finished.

I was quiet for a bit, but finally nodded. "That makes sense. Just one more question. Would you still have offered to turn me, just with political motives, if you didn't like me?"

He laughed at me, though not in an unkind way. "Of course not! Do you think I could stand to train a young vampire and teach him our ways if I absolutely hated you? No way! No, even if you could help us reach our goal of opposing the Dark Lord, I would never bother with someone whom I hated, and the other vampires would agree with me."

I smiled at Vick. "Well, I bet you have guessed by now that yes, I do want to be a vampire."

"Excellent!" Vick jumped up, truly excited, "Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked me. "We have to go get your things! The sooner we do that, the sooner we can go back to my place, get you settled in, and then perform the ritual that will make you into a vampire!" He was bouncing on his feet, and I could tell he was really looking forward to this, so I smiled at him and got up as well to lead him back to number four, Privet Drive, where we would proceed to collect my things.

At that moment, I felt a small twinge of guilt of what my friends would think of my decision, and what my disappearance would do to them and the Weasleys, but I pushed it out of my head. Right now I should be focusing on the now, on what _I_ wanted. It was time I started living my life for _me_ instead of everyone else.

**Well, there's chapter 2 for ya ^_^ Sorry it took so long to post. I'm just lazy. But remember, reviews do provide incentives to people like me. Makes me feel like people actually appreciate my work, rather than me thinking I'm spending hours writing a fic for nothing.**


	3. Of Being a Vampire

**DISCLAIMER: Woe is me**

**Okay, guys, I'm really sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out '^_^ In my defense, it wasn't **_**technically **_**my fault. You see, I was grounded. Ah, yes, the evils of having computer access taken away. T.T**

**Anyhoo, cuz of that, I typed this chapter up real fast for ya as soon as I could! I hope you enjoy.**

**Also, I read back through my first two chapters and was amazed by how many mistakes I had missed :( So I edited them, and I'm gonna repost them. Just thought you'd like to know ^_^**__

Vick and I were nearing Privet Drive once more, though he had had to slow his pace and shorten his stride as to allow me to keep up. I swear, he was too tall for his own good. As we were about to round the bend, I stopped him and pulled out my invisibility cloak. "We need to put it on." I told him, and he looked at me like I was insane, what with suggesting that we both huddle in a silvery piece of fabric together. "It's an invisibility cloak," I explained. "We can't be seen going into or leaving the house, or else the wizards protecting me will stop me from leaving."

He 'Ahh'-ed and moved closer to me, along with hunching down a bit so we could both fit, rather comfortably I might add, under my cloak. With the necessary precautions taken, it was easy work to make it into the house, the time just half past eight.

Once we entered the house, through the back obviously, I slipped the cloak off of us, making us visible once again. I began to lead him up to my room so we could fetch my things when Uncle Vernon stopped me. "What do you think you're doing boy? Who is this and why is he in my house?" amazingly, his face was already purple.

"He is a friend of mine, you would probably call him 'my sort', even though that's not quite the case. As for why he's here, he's going to take me away and I'll never be coming back." I answered his questions in succession. The thought of my leaving seemed to appease my uncle enough that he didn't complain about having Vick here.

"You're really leaving? And never coming back?" Vernon asked eagerly. I nodded my head in confirmation, feeling sad inside. Of course I knew that my relatives hated me, and don't get me wrong, I hate them too, but it is depressing when your only blood relations want to get rid of you so eagerly. All the while, Vick was looking between me and my uncle with the most peculiar look on his face. "Well, get going then." Was the last thing Uncle Vernon said before he turned and waddled back to the living room to watch the telly with Petunia and Dudley.

I once again blazed the way toward my sad excuse for a room with my vampire friend right behind me all the way. "Here we are." I announced needlessly when I stopped in front of my door and opened it. Vick stepped in first, presumably so he would have longer to take in the place that I had lived for so long. Sadly for him, there wasn't really much to see, especially since I had already packed.

I waited while he took in the room; my bed taking up the majority of the space, my desk in the corresponding corner, the window with the age-yellowed curtains, and finally my trunk, packed and waiting with Hedwig in her cage sitting on top. "Kind of quaint." He said, though I could tell that it wasn't meant as an insult.

"Yeah," I agreed, "But it's better than the cupboard." I commented, and Vick whirled around to stare at me incredulously, his eyes filled with his unspoken question. "They kept me in the cupboard under the stairs for ten years until I right before I went to Hogwarts. They only gave me this room because my admittance letter was addressed to 'the cupboard under the stairs' and that really freaked them out, so they moved me." I further explained.

"That's horrible!" Vick said in disgust. He obviously couldn't imagine having to live like that himself. He cleared his throat and said, "Well, you are all packed, aren't you?" I nodded silently. "Good," he continued. "Then let's go. I'll get the trunk, you get the owl."

"Her name is Hedwig." I informed him, knowing that Hedwig didn't like being referred to as 'owl.' As it were, I did as Vick said and plucked the cage off of the trunk. I was about to warn Vick that my trunk was incredibly heavy when he easily hoisted it up making it look like it was feather light. I gaped at him, but then felt stupid for forgetting that _Vick_ was a _vampire._ Talk about duh.

I followed him to the back door once again before he stopped and lowered the trunk and turned to face me. "Ok, so how are we going to do this? Both of us can't fit under the cloak with this stuff." He stated.

I thought for only a moment before coming up with a suitable solution. "How about I wear the cloak along with Hedwig? At least that way it will seem like you're alone, even though it will be a bit suspicious that you're coming out of my house with a trunk. Still, I doubt the Order will do anything."

"Yes, that will work." He agreed before asking, "The Order?"

I sighed and explained. "The Order of the Phoenix, actually. They fight against Voldemort."

"Ahh." Was Vick's only reply. He picked my trunk up again and opened the door to leave, so I took that as my cue to don the cloak, making well sure that it completely covered myself and Hedwig alike, before I followed Vick out the door where we slipped through the back gate in the fence and cut through the neighbor's lawn. I stuck to him like glue as we headed left down the street, turned right at the end, and left at the next junction.

I was beginning to wonder where we were going when Vick finally came to a stop in beside a very expensive looking shiny black car. "You can take the cloak of now, Harry." He said as he pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked said car. H popped the trunk as well and gracefully slid my trunk into it, then pushed another button on his key, which caused the trunk to close by itself.

To top it all off, when he instructed me to put Hedwig, still in her cage, into the back seat of the car, the door opened _up_ instead of out. To say I was impressed was an understatement.

Once Hedwig was safely in and situated, I moved up to the passenger side of the car and proceeded to open the door, which lifted up as well, and slid into the smooth leather seat that waited. The interior of the car was just as impressive as the exterior, the seats done with the finest quality leather money could buy, and it had a magnificent speaker system that just made me want to blast some rock music, mostly because I'd never done it before. "Nice." Was the only word I was able to choke out, but even that didn't do this car justice.

Vick smirked. "It is, isn't it? Cost me a pretty penny too." He said with a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin.

"I figured as much." I replied, still in awe. Vick started the engine, and I listened contentedly as the high grade engine purred into life. He pulled smoothly out of the space where the car had previously been parallel parked, and zoomed away, seeming not to notice the speed limit. Well, that or Vick just disregarded it all together.

"Umm, where are we going exactly?" I asked, curious of our destination now that I had finally pulled my attention away from the car itself.

"North, to an old town called Westmire. It will take about two hours to reach from here. There aren't any other vampires living there besides myself, but there are several others in the surrounding towns." He glanced at me with a wry smirk. "All of us, it seems, are attracted to the old style buildings that are prominent around there. I bought my mansion there just because of that. I can't wait until you see it! You're gonnna love it, I swear so on my name!" he said, excited.

The way he talked about his home got me excited too, and I began to wonder if the architecture was anything like that of the Hogwarts castle. It would have been amazing if it would. It was then that Vick slid a CD into the stereo system and hit play. We were soon surrounded by a relatively loud, pounding beat, and I could honestly say that I enjoyed the music, although I had no clue as to who the artist was. As Vick drove, I admired the passing scenery while the time passed in a comfortable silence. Well, silent if you didn't count the blaring music.

After nearly an hour of that, I reached up and turned the music down low so we would be able to speak

"Hey Vick," I started, making sure I had his attention before I continued. Once he glanced my way, I did just so. "What exactly comes with being a vampire? I want to know exactly what I've signed up for, if you don't mind."

He chuckled at me. "That's the first time I've ever heard of volunteering for the change being put that way before, but I suppose you do have a point. Very well, I'll start with the physical characteristics."

"Just like in vampire lore, you will become paler. That is caused by the thinning of our blood. We do still have as much of it as we did before, but it just tends to remain more in our core body, congregating more so around the heart than anywhere else. There still_ is_ blood constantly circulating in the rest of our body, just not as much as there would be in a human."

"Our nails are also stronger and sharper than those of a human. You'll notice that you're nails will start to grow a bit faster as well, and you'll definitely have to be careful when you're around humans so you don't accidentally slice them open." I shivered at the thought of accidentally cutting open Ron or Hermione. "They're stronger than steel, too, so you can deal a lot of damage with them. On that note, the easiest way to cut then is to slice then off with another fingernail, or bite them off." He said, apparently feeling to need to inform me of proper vampire nail hygene.

"Next, I'll tell you about our eyes. In our natural state, our eyes are slited, comparable to a cats, and the color of our eyes is accented, almost to the point of where it looks like they are glowing. It's really neat; I'll have to show you sometime. Of course, the same thing will happen to your own eyes. When we get angry, our eyes are overlaid with various amounts of red, spreading out from the pupil. If you're annoyed, then only a slight ring of red will show, but if you are completely and utterly pissed off, then your entire eye will be overtaken by red. As it were, a lot of vampires train themselves to be impervious to anger as to not allow others to literally read the emotions in their eyes. This can only happen when the vampire's eyes are in their natural, slitted state, though."

"Our eyes also turn red when overcome by bloodlust as well. It's one of the dead give-aways that a person stalking you at night is a vampire, not just some psycho." He grinned at me, exposing his fangs, and I couldn't help but shiver. "Coincidentally," he continued, "We are overtaken by bloodlust while we are hungry, and after we've partaken in an incredibly large meal, but these two forms of the lust are different. The first is rather obvious, but the second comes from the high we get after taking in too much blood."

"Also, a vampire can control when and how much their eyes turn red when they want, to trick someone into thinking something about the vampire that isn't true. However, this only works when the vampire in question is not feeling an annoyance, anger, or bloodlust of any sort. You got me?" he asked.

I nodded slowly. "I think so. Please continue."

"Alright. Onto new abilities then. A vampire has inhuman speed, the ability to move so fast that their appearance blurs, and we often cannot be seen by a human while moving at these speeds. It comes naturally to us, so that concept shouldn't be too hard to grasp, especially after you get a chance to try it for yourself. Next is our strength. It isn't nearly on par with our speed, but strength isn't what we are built for. In all honesty, most magical creatures are stronger than us, though we are superior to humans. We are able to fight and win against nearly all magical creatures because of our quickness. Even if the opponent is stronger than us, if they can't hit us, then it does them no good. We, to the contrary, have no problem connecting with our targets and can take them down with our natural weapons, claws and fangs, or any other weapon we have on our person." He smirked. "You'll find that we vampires have a bit of a liking for nearly every sharp object and normally keep several on our person at all time."

I was hanging on Vick's every word, thinking that being a vampire was going to be greater with every sentence that came out of his mouth. "What about the blood drinking?" I prompted.

"Ah, yes." He said, considering the topic. "We don't require too much blood to live, its only necessary once a week before we start to feel the effects of going without. Us not having blood is rather like what happens when a human is starved. Our physical condition decreases bit by bit until we would finally die. It doesn't matter if the blood is fresh, though that is what most of us prefer, it can be bottled blood, but that usually has a stale taste to it. You don't have to kill the person you feed off of, but you don't have to keep them alive either. Weather you kill your victim or not is up to you. We can eat human food as well and most of us do, just because we enjoy the taste of it. It does nothing for us nutritionally and is not needed for survival, but it is a pleasure we don't want to give up." He looked horrified for a moment. "Could you imagine what life would be like without chocolate cake?" he whispered in fright.

I laughed at that comment, rather heartily too, because it was incredibly funny to me. It wouldn't normally be, but after discussing such serious and important topics, it just had that effect. Vick smiled warmly at me and waited for me to quiet before he continued with his lecture.

"The last thing I'm going to explain to you for now is our ability to transform into animals. We can transform into exactly three different animals, though not of our choice. These animals are already predetermined by fate. For example, my animals are a raven, a fox, and a mountain lion."

"Are these transformations anything like an animagus'?" I asked him.

He glanced at me. "Just so you know, I was born a muggle before I became a vampire, so I'm not completely sure of all the wizarding terminology, so if by an 'animagus' you mean a wizard who can transform into an animal, then yes, you are correct."

"That is all I'm going to tell you for now, but at another time, I will tell you about all the immunities we have, and the kind of magic we posses. Yes, we have magic as vampires, but it isn't like that of a wizard. It doesn't involve incantations or wands, but it is more restricted than what wizards do as well. Along with all of that, I will tell you about a few other random things we can do, or occasionally not do, respectively. For now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride."

I once gain laughed at his last comment. The way he had said it made him sound like a conductor on a train. I had been laughing a lot lately, and it was all because of Vick. I guess he was right about him being a good judge of character, because we were already well on our way of being fast friends.

Another question struck me then, so I asked away. "Are wizards really prejudiced against vampires?"

Vick sighed, a thin smile creeping onto his face. "We are, technically, dark creatures and as I said before, a lot of vampires, myself included, do kill our victims." My gaze swiveled to him, horrified at what he had just said. "Hey, now, don't look at me like that. I just said that we kill our victims, but we don't do it all the time. That would be too noticeable to the general population, so we normally let our 'food' live. To you, killing will seems wrong, am I right?" I nodded. "Well, another thing about becoming a vampire is that you have less of a regard for human life. Humans just start to seem more like food as a whole, so you don't mind feeding off of them, or taking the occasional life. Coincidently, this also makes it easier for us to kill the humans that we dislike as well. That is one of the reasons we are disliked by wizarding people."

I made a small sound that said I understood where he was coming from. I mean, if I was a normal wizard, I would dislike vampires for killing humans without caring about it at all. I wasn't sure if I really like this aspect of vampirism, but hey, there was no going back for me now anyway. Surely, I told myself, that if I killed Voldemort, I would be saving so many lives so that it wouldn't matter if I needlessly took a few myself, would it?

"Another reason we are disliked and distrusted," Vick continued, "is that we occasionally have someone quite mad amongst our numbers, or an idealist, if you will, not unlike your Lord Voldemort, who partake in mass slaughter. The rest of us, who are more peaceful, get lumped in with those who we openly agree are in the wrong. In that way, wizards are the most oblivious and conceited race because they cannot see past those who are evil in the race that is the vampire, and judge us all on the actions of the evil ones. I believe it is much the same with the werewolves as well. The wizards, however, see themselves as a perfect race that cannot be damned as a whole just because half their population follows an evil bastard. They're hypocrites, the lot of them, I tell you."

"You know," I said, "I can't help but notice that you seem to be treating me like I'm _not_ a wizard." I commented.

"That's because I am." Vick said, raising an eyebrow at my observation. "You will soon be a vampire, so I will treat you like one. You will have to adjust to being one of us soon enough anyway. Hey, were almost home!" he suddenly said excitedly. "We just entered Westmire! Five more minutes! Yay!"

I stared at Vick. Just stared. One minute he acts all serious and grown up, but the next he's acting like a kid, excited over the smallest things.

"What?" he sniffed, noting my stare. "I can get excited to you know!"

I shook my head, unbelieving. "You need to loosen up, you know that? I'll work on it with ya along with everything else we need to cover, K?"

I rolled my eyes in good-natured humor, which Vick responded to by crossing his eyes at me. It was funny, until the car made a sharp swerve toward the edge of the road. "Vick!" I yelled, holding onto my seat for dear life, praying I wasn't going to die right there, right then.

Vick snapped his gaze back to the road and yanked the car out of its dangerous path just in time. It was a few moments later, when our heartbeats began to even out again, that Vick finally said "Whoops."

I turned to him, disbelieving. "Whoops. Whoops? You almost got us killed and all you can say is Whoops?" I was kind of angry at him, but my attention was soon diverted against my will when Vick said,

"Oh, look, we're here!" I swiveled my head to look at the house, no, _mansion_ in front of me. The only thought flowing through my mind at that precise moment was 'holy fuck, that place is huge!'

I was speechless for a while longer as well as I admired the estate. Lush green grounds surrounded the entire manner with tastefully done landscaping making it look like a scene strait out of a painting. A weeping willow here, several artful boulders surrounded by various shrubs there, it was a beautiful sight. The front grounds only hinted at the magnificent gardens that must lie in the back for private viewing only.

The building in itself was a masterpiece as well. The slate gray stone complemented the black shingles that adorned the sloping roof, along with the pointed tops of the several towers protruding from the roof. There were gargoyles as well, oh yes, many of them, adorning the corners of the building. Incredibly large ornately carved doors with, I could tell even from this distance, decorative knockers, though what they portrayed, I had not a clue. Magnificent windows scattered the side of the mansion in organized chaos, giving the structure a more archaic look, but it suited the design as a whole.

"Well, are you just going to sit there forever, or are you actually going to get out and help me take your stuff in?" Vick joked, already outside, his door shut. I scrambled to follow suit, a blush covering my face at my own ignorant stupidity. In my haste, I tripped getting out, falling down, but catching myself with my hands.

"Ouch, Dammit!" I complained getting up.

Vick, wanting to make sure I was alright, hurried around the car, which, by the way, was parked in the middle of a large, light gray brick driveway. By the time he got here, moving at human speed, I was already up, and assessing the damage I had done to palm. I had cut my left one so it was bleeding. I poked at the coppery red substance with distaste, and then winced at my own stupidity.

"Let me see it." Vick ordered. I looked at him warily. Only an idiot willingly gives a bleeding body part over to a vampire. "Let me see it." Vick repeated, so slowly, warily, I obliged. He quickly grabbed it, being gentle as to not hurt me, and brought my bleeding limb up to his mouth, and then _licked it!_ I gasped, not only from surprise, but because Vick's actions felt surprisingly pleasant. All too soon, or at least in my opinion, he released my hand with a chuckle, and in my daze I noted that my hand had stopped bleeding and was, in fact, completely healed.

"Two random things about vampires, my young ward," he said jokingly, but I knew his information would be true, "are that our saliva has healing properties, and that having your blood sucked can be a pleasurable experience." I blushed at the last part, as any self respecting male who had just felt pleasure from another male sucking his blood, would do.

"Come on, let's get inside." Vick said, grabbing my trunk easily.

"One minute," I replied. "I want to send a letter off with Hedwig quick." And I did just that. I pulled my letter to Sirius out of my pocket and attached it to my snowy owl's leg after I let her out of the confines of her cage. "Take your time girl, and be careful." I told her when I was finished. Her reply was a soft hoot and an affectionate nip to my fingers. With that, she took off into the skies to deliver the letter.

I grabbed Hedwig's now empty cage and followed Vick up the drive toward the mansion. When we reached to doors, I discovered that the knockers were shaped into ornate Celtic knots. They were beautiful, I had to give them that much.

Vick pulled an old brass key out of his black coat, the same coat, I noted, that he had worn the first night we met. It was hard to believe that that was just two days ago, it seemed like much longer, to me at least.

We entered the house and I was once again shocked by beauty. The floors were a black and white marble, which continued in every direction, except for the stair cases, which wound up either side of the incredibly large entrance hall, and were covered with a plush, red carpet, done in a shade that instantly reminded me of the sight of fresh blood.

My gaze then turned to the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, to the decorative items lining the walls, to the tapestries hanging on the walls. It was all so much to take in.

My attention was brought back to Vick when he cleared his throat. He was looking at me, amused once again. "Follow me, I'll show you to the room you'll be staying in." I did just as he said, feeling no reason to disobey.

"You're going to love it. It's much bigger than that hovel you were living in before. Nice, big, soft bed, furniture that _matches_, it's wonderful, really." The more time I spent with him, the more I came to realize that Vick was accustomed to money, probably ever since he was human as well. I figured he was like Malfoy in that respect, that he wouldn't know what to do with himself if all of his money just up and disappeared on day.

"We're here!" Vick suddenly announced, after having led me up two flights of stairs and down three hallways.

I opened the door, cautiously at first, but then in a greater awe when I actually saw the inside of the room. The floors were a black cherry hardwood, the same color as the rest of the wooden furniture in the room. There were several rugs laid on it as well, done in green, as well as the coverings of the king-sized bed, complete with an array of pillows in mismatching shades.

The room also had a large set of windows, which opened up into a large private balcony, overlooking the magnificent gardens in the rear of the mansion. The heavy drapes, which would no doubt block out all sunlight when closed, were green as well.

I had my own bookcase, waiting to be filled with what I had in my trunk, and, after some investigation, I found that the room was also equipped with a walk-in closet, it was about a quarter size of the room, which was saying something, because the room itself was colossal. The other door led to a bathroom even larger than the closet. It had a cupboard for all of my toiletries, and another one for towels. The shower was humongous, decorated with a pale green tile, with a two foot by two foot part of the ceiling being made up of a gigantic shower head that would rain water down on me. I couldn't wait to give it a try.

The bathtub was impressive as well, the entire thing large enough for me to stand in the water and be half submerged, and I could swim in it as well, complete with Jacuzzi settings. It looked incredibly inviting to me, I could almost imagine the feel of the soothing warm water on my skin.

The walls of each of the rooms were painted a deep, warm brown. All in all, I though the color scheme was a bit Slytherin, but I liked it so I wasn't complaining.

Vick waited patiently in the main chamber as I took my obligatory tour of my new rooms, and he was sitting at the desk chair when I returned from my wanderings. "Do you like it?" he asked, a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Like it?" I asked with a laugh. "It's amazing! How could I possibly not like it?" Vick looked relieved.

"Well, now that you've seen where you'll be living, how about we get onto the whole reason you're here?"

I gulped, nervous again. "You mean you want to turn me now?" I asked the obvious question.

"Yes," Vick nodded, his eyes penetratingly serious and glued to my face, watching closely every emotion that passed over it.

I swallowed hard, strengthening my resolve. "Ok," I agreed. "Let's do this."


	4. Changed

**DISCLAIMER: still not mine**

***If you see one of these star-thingies, it means there's a note at the bottom of the page, K?**

**Yay ^_^ I updated real quick for ya this time, since I took forever last time. Please, enjoy.**

Vick guided me to the bed and sat me down on the edge, sat down beside me, and turned to face me. "Alright, this is what's going to happen." He told me, "I'm going to bite you and drain you of almost all of your blood, and when I'm done, you'll return the favor."

"Nearly all of it?" I questioned.

Vick took the time to explain it to me, although I knew he was anxious to do this. "Yes, my blood is the transforming agent in making a human into vampire. The more of it you have inside of you, the quicker and more accurate the transformation will be. Coincidentally, the less of your own blood in your veins, the better the effect mine will have on you." He grinned at me before finishing his explanation. "It also helps to have just fed big time if you're going to lose most of your blood in a short amount of time. Less detrimental to the health, if you know what I mean?"

I nodded, steeling myself for what was to come. Vick reached out to me and unbuttoned the top of my shirt. His eyes were bright blue slits, the color bleeding into red, with a bit of an inhuman glow about them. I watched I fascination as his fangs elongated, becoming much sharper as well, and he prepared to bite me. There was a hunger in his eyes that was for sure, despite the fact that he had just fed off of a woman two days ago.

He leaned forward, toward my neck, and suddenly he plunged his fangs into my soft flesh. I had expected pain, conveniently forgetting what Vick had told me about vampire bites being pleasurable. What I wasn't expecting that I received was a burning pleasure eating its way through even the smallest of my veins as my blood was expertly drawn out of my body.

My hands clenched tightly on the bed cover and, no matter how hard I tried, I was unable to stop the low moan that escaped my throat. I could feel Vick's lips curve into a smirk on my neck at the sound, so I promptly bit my lip and concentrated as hard as I could to keep any further sounds from leaving my body.

As the seconds ticked by, and then the minutes, I began to feel myself growing weaker, dizzy even, though the pleasure was _definitely_ still there. I was beginning to slump over, unable to hold myself upright any more, and I could hear my heart beating in my ears, but it was not a strong, healthy sound, no, far from it. It sounded sickly and weak. 'This is what being near death is like.' I thought to myself.

Finally, Vick's mouth left my throat, only pausing to lick the wounds so that they would heal before drawing back completely. I vaguely watched him cut his own throat with one of his long, sharp nails. My eyes were transfixed on the sweet crimson drops that were leaking from the laceration, and every part of my body was calling out for it, wanting, desiring it more than anything else in the world, for it knew that if I didn't get it, then I would die.

Slowly, gently, being careful not to jostle me too much, Vick lifted me to a position where I was sitting fully upright once again. Then he guided my head to the bleeding side of his neck. In no time at all I had latched onto him and was sucking at his open wound greedily, wanting more of his sweet blood and taking it. It was wonderful, taking his blood into myself made me feel stronger, less frail. I very much enjoyed the sensation. Mouthful after mouthful I swallowed, the longing in my body slowly beginning to fade, in time, I noted, with the thrumming of Vick's heart.

"Ok, that's enough." Vick said firmly when I had had my fill of his blood and was now just drinking for the sake of doing so. Reluctantly, I drew back, but only because I was hyperaware of how shallow the beat of his heart was. 'Mine had been beating that slowly earlier.' I remembered in awe. The vampire in front of me, however, seemed to have no adverse affect from what had transpired between us just moments ago. No signs of fatigue or lightheadedness from the blood loss.

I, however, even after drinking down a large amount of Vick's own blood, felt terrible. Like I was dizzy and sick, weak and tired. It was such a contrast from just moments ago, I was shocked. A thought popped into my mind, _I guess this is how it feels to change._ My eyes flitted up to the full vampire's face, my mouth opening to ask if my theory was right. Alas, it was not to be. I was just _so_ tired! My eyes drooped, falling shut, and the last thing I remembered was falling back onto the bed, my head hitting the lush pillows that adorned it, and then sweet nothingness.

I blinked several times, my eyes not accustomed to the light I was currently faced with. 'light?' I wondered to myself. 'But it was dark last night when Vick* . . .' I sat bolt upright, memories of the last night flowing through my mind in an unending stream of vivid pictures, sounds, and, most of all, feelings.

I was a vampire. Well, a half vampire, but the truth of that was just finally starting to sink into my mind. 'Oh god, Ron! What will he think of me now?' I thought in panic. 'He's the most prejudiced person I know when it comes to dark magical creatures! I had the hardest time convincing him to talk to Hagrid again after we found out that he was half giant!'

I groaned in depression as thoughts of Ron rejecting me and hating me after this turn of events filled my mind. I flopped back down onto the soft mattress and pressed my face into the warm, down pillows. Hermione, though, shouldn't be as bad as Ron when it comes to the topic of my humanity, or current lack thereof. She had even been the first to discover that Moony was a werewolf, and she had no problem with him what so ever!

And Sirius . . . What about Sirius? What would he say? I found that I was most worried about his opinion out of the three aforementioned people even though I had known him for the least amount of time.

I sighed, not feeling that there was any other gesture quite appropriate for the moment. 'It won't do to dwell on such thoughts.' I told myself firmly, and right after I took notice of the clock and, correspondingly, the time as well. It was nearly half past ten in the morning.

With that in mind, I dragged my sorry arse out of bed and just as I was reaching for my glasses, which were conveniently placed on the nightstand, I realized, with startling clarity, that I could see perfectly without them. To say I was shocked was an understatement, but at the moment my stress level was already nearly maxed out, so I just filed that information away in my brain to continue pondering at a later date.

I wandered into my amazing bathroom and prepared for a shower, not having gotten clean last night, or, for that matter for several days before as well because the Dursleys wouldn't let me use their 'precious hot water!'

I turned the faucets in the shower on, being careful to avoid the streams of water that rained from the ceiling, because they would be icy cold, I knew, for the hot water had yet to reach this particular room. I set the temperature at a relatively hot setting, not enough to scald and burn my skin, but not far from it either. That's just how I liked my showers and now that I had the luxury to partake in such frivolous pleasures, I damn well would.

Methodically, I stripped all of my clothes of, which were the same ones I had been wearing the night before. They were terribly wrinkled, I noted, but what could I expect after sleeping on them all night, as well as a good portion of the morning too.

I slid my boxers to the floor and checked the water. Starting to get warm, but not quite at my temperature yet, so I withdrew my hand from the liquid streams, prepared to wait a bit longer until I got in. Closing the shower door, I stepped away and indivertibly found myself looking into the mirror. Curious, I walked closer to better examine my reflection to see if I had changed any since last night.

The mirror was located over the sink, so I stood in front of the counter as I studied my reflection intently. 'Did I look paler?' I wondered. Yes. Definitely a yes on that one, I decided. It made my jet black hair, which was growing a bit long since it had been a while since I last had it cut, stand out even more prominently as it framed my sharp, somewhat aristocratic features that I had no doubt inherited from my father's side of the family.

And my eyes . . . they were still green, no hint of red in them at the moment, but they were strange, startling, almost. Luminescent they were as they stared back at me, glowing as such so they reminded me uneasily of the killing curse. I had not expected this turn of events. The catlike pupil that now ran through my glowing, actually _glowing_ green orbs I could deal with, but it was harder to stare at a reflection that reminded me of that day almost fifteen years ago when my parents lost their lives to a curse that was the color of my eyes.

I shivered as I turned away from the mirror. I shut my eyes tight, willing away this disturbing change in them, but I knew it wouldn't work. Even when my eyes had switched over to human form, the glow would still remain, haunting those around me, or at least I thought they would.

My eyes reopened, and I noticed the steam billowing out from the shower signaling that the water was the perfect temperature I had previously set it at. I walked once again over to the shower, this time fully prepared to get in, and willing myself not to think while under the influence of the hot water.

I stepped in and shuddered as the water poured down onto me, first touching my head, then my shoulders, and then dripping down my entire body, touching every part of me. In that moment in time, I was truly content just to let the water run over me, without a care in the world. I mean, I had known that my becoming a vampire would bring with it many complications, and I had listed all of them out in my head that day in the movie theatre with Tonks. That seemed so long ago now . . . I had thought them all out to an extent, but only now that I was actually faced with them did they seem completely and utterly real. 'Still,' I reminded myself. 'The benefits of this outweigh the cons.'

My mind shut down after that, and I began to mindlessly shampoo my hair and work it into a nice lather before stepping back under the wonderfully hot, flowing water and rinsing the suds away. There also happened to be some conditioner in the shower, which I'd never used before, but since it had been so graciously provided for me, I decided to give it a try. I squeezed a decent sized dollop onto my hand and then worked it slowly into my hair. 'Smells nice.' I though absently.

I washed my body after that, with a plain, unscented soap, making sure to expertly clean every part of me, and then thoroughly rinsed my body, as well and the conditioner out of my hair. I was clean, I knew, but this feeling of the water pounding me was just too sweet to leave just now, so I just stood there, soaking wet and loving every moment of it.

All too soon, or at least in my opinion, I stepped out of the shower, sopping, and walked across the room to get the towel I had gotten out earlier, but had been too scatter-brained to actually move it close to the shower so I wouldn't have to leave a trail of water across the reasonably large room.

It didn't take long to dry and dress, along with comb my hair and shave the stubble off of my chin with a state of the art electric razor that had also been kindly provided to me. When I was finished preparing for the day, having brushed my teeth as well, I was wearing faded blue jeans which fit me snuggly, but not tightly, and a black t-shirt with a splattered design of white across it, more prominent at the top, that was most likely done by pouring bleach onto the fabric, and the time was around eleven thirty.

I wasn't hungry, which surprised me since I hadn't eaten anything in a while. I felt incredibly stupid shortly after that though had gone through my mind when I remembered something Vick had said about vampires not needing any sustenance besides our weekly dose, or perhaps more given preferences, of blood.

I wasn't quite sure what to do now. I had considered going to find Vick, but rethinking it, it was obvious that he would still be sleeping because vampires were nocturnal, or at least that is what they preferred when circumstances allowed it, and I was sure this was one of those times.

Having nothing better to do, I decided to go exploring. It was when I left my room that I began to notice other things that had changed about me more so that just my appearance. I could hear _everything!_ The crickets chirping in the dark cracks and corners of the manor, even the tweets of the birds outside, and I was sure I was in the heart of the building at the moment.

Another thing I heard caught my attention as well. It was a soft whooshing noise, accompanied by a faint, but distinct drumming. I soon realized it to be Vick, still sleeping in his quarters. After that, it was not hard to deduce where his quarters where, as that was where the sound originated from.

My sight was incredibly clear as well, even better than when I wore my glasses, I noted as I wandered down the halls, refraining from trying any of the numerous doors for the time being. I walked and walked, sometimes meandering down a hallway twice in my quest to take everything in.

I was amazed at the many things I saw, and if I had any question of the amount of money Vick had possessed before, I was now one hundred percent sure that he was filthy stinking rich. As I meandered, I saw ornate carvings, magnificent painting and tapestries, ancient stone busts, and other pieces of artwork, many of them crusted with jewels. It was a bit over the top, in my opinion, but with the way it was all lain out and positioned I felt that it suited this huge excuse for a house rather well.

It was about the time I had been musing this that I realized I was completely and utterly lost in this intricate maze of hallways. I abruptly stopped, not that it really mattered, and just stood there. I listened and listened hard. I concentrated, and in doing so, I once again became completely aware of all the sounds from inside and outside of the castle, things I had been hearing over the duration of my exploration, but had pushed to the back of my mind.

Sorting though the numerous sounds, I picked out the sounds of Vick's breathing and heartbeat. They were coming from the left, though not directly, over a few hallways, I guessed, and up a bit, for I had taken to several different floors in my boredom.

I was about to turn around and head in that direction when a loud pop echoed beside me.

"Ahhh!" I yelled, unceremoniously, and whipped around with a speed that I didn't know I possessed, or more likely that I had only recently come to possess, slipped, and fell right strait on my backside. The thing, or creature actually that I had had this over the top reaction to, was naught but a house elf. I felt incredibly stupid as it just stood there, looking at me with its large tennis ball eyes, with a bit of a worried look on its face.

"Did Feppy scare Young Master?" the house elf, apparently known as Feppy, asked. "Oh no, if Feppy did, then Feppy is a bad elf! Feppy will have to punish himself!" I looked at Feppy, whom I now know was a 'he', in worry. I really disliked it when house elves punished themselves, especially after the whole Dobby affair.

"No, no, it's quite alright." I told the distraught elf. "I did this on purpose, you see." I said, although I knew the excuse was incredibly stupid, and I had to do my best not to laugh at the whole situation.

Feppy, however, seemed to take my lie for the truth, and nodded his head, seeming relieved. "Good, good, Feppy is not a bad elf. Anyways, Master told Feppy to get the Young Master and bring him to Master's chambers when Master awoke. Feppy asks Young Master to follow him now." The elf said, though I found his speech a bit hard to follow. Didn't house elves use pronouns, for God's sake?

Despite my objections to the little elf's grammar, I followed him diligently back through the winding hallways, toward where I had originally started my journey, some of the hallways looking familiar, others completely alien. 'So Vick was awake.' I noted, but then wandered what the time was, figuring it must be near dusk if my sire was awake. 'Sire', at least I think that's the word used for a vampire that turned another vampire, if my knowledge of DADA was correct.

As we continued to pass through the halls, my attention was drawn back to the elf itself. It was wearing what looked to be like several old hand towels sewn together, the colors mismatching shades of green. This elf resembled Dobby as well, though no more than I thought any other one did. Feppy's ears were shorter and more pointed than Dobby's, and his fingers were longer and thinner too.

Thanks to my guide, I soon arrived at a room that Vick currently resided in, though different from the one he had been sleeping in before. I knocked politely on the door, being the guest in this house and not wanting to be rude.

"Come on in, my little vampire!" came Vick's somewhat hyper voice from the interior of the room. I vaguely wondered if he was normally this hyper, and figured my stay would be incredibly interesting if he was.

I opened the door with a practiced ease and stepped into what I figured to be some kind of sitting room. Vick, dressed in faded and torn blue jeans and a shirt that was striped up and down with different tones of gray, was splayed unceremoniously onto a beige couch. My lip twitched into a smile at the sight.

"Well, come on, sit down now! I don't bite! Well, at least not other vampires. They taste nasty. Bleh!" his tone was teasing, his eyes sparkling in an obviously mischievous way. "You can go now, Feppy." He said as an afterthought. Said house elf bowed and disappeared with a loud crack, presumably to go clean something.

"So, you have a house elf?" I asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

Vick looked significantly horrified. "No, my dear child, I have _several _house elves on the premises, thank you very much!" he said in a mock insulted voice, then grinned, unable to keep up the act. "Actually," he continued, more seriously this time, "I have five, to be exact. You've already met Feppy, then there's Dinky, Finny, Hatty, and Wiffy. They're all very well mannered and good natured, so if you ever need anything, while you're staying here or not, just call one of them and they'll appear."

"So, if I'm at Hogwarts or something, I could just call out their name and they'll show up?" Vick nodded the affirmative. "Speaking of Hogwarts . . ." I trailed off, nervous again. I wanted to go back, almost needed to really, to see my friends and have some normality, a constant if you will, in my life and at the moment that was school.

"Of course, you will be going back." Vick said, and my head snapped towards him, my attention restored to him as it had been wandering with my thoughts. "Think about it, Harry, you're a young wizard, and it's just as important for you to learn magic as it is to learn vampire magic and the other lessons I have for you."

I looked at him questioningly, still finding faults with what he said. "So, during the school year, you're just going to ship me off to school?" It would make sense, I supposed.

"Oh, heavens no!" he countered, his voice implying I was an idiot for thinking so. I glowered. "As your sire," Ha, I was right about that word. "By vampire law I am required to keep you under my wing for _at least_ a year, though I personally intend to keep you longer. That wouldn't be so much of a problem if you didn't go to a boarding school, however, I've found a way passed that."

"How's that, I thought you said you were born a muggle? How do you expect to get into Hogwarts with me?" my voice was skeptical, even to my own ears.

If Vick was annoyed with me, he didn't show it. "Lies, my dear Childe, lies. To be honest with you, I had predicted that you would take my offer for vampirism, so the night I had met you, I owled the Hogwarts headmaster- yes, I have an owl, and _of course_ I know who Albus Dumbledore is- and applied for a job. Stop looking at me like I'm an idiot."

He said that last part in obvious response to my stare. I was wondering how the hell he thought he would get a job at Hogwarts, being a former muggle and all. Alas, my question was soon answered.

"As I said earlier, I lied. I told him that I was in desperate need for a job, and had heard on a rumor that the current Care of Magical Creatures teacher was intending on bringing some larger and more dangerous creatures into his lessons. I informed the headmaster that I was, indeed, a squib, but had a rather interesting aptitude in dealing with dangerous magical creatures, and experience with it too. Forged the recommendations myself." He said proudly before he continued. "I got a reply last night, it was actually waiting for me when we got here. Now, as you probably know from personal experience, Albus is a sucker for charity cases, so naturally, I got the job. I am _officially_," he said the word pompously, though I knew he was just poking fun, "the assistant Care of Magical Creatures professor."

I nodded at his cunning, thoroughly impressed. "That way I still learn magic, and you're there to teach me as well. It works out perfectly." I beamed at him.

"The only thing is, for a sort of orientation, I need to head to the castle a week before September first, so we'll have to find something to do with you for that week, because I can't take you with me. We are going to have to play at not knowing each other, you realize that, right?" he asked.

I had to admit, I didn't see that last part coming, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. "We do that so no one could connect you with my disappearance, right? I mean, it would be kind of weird if I showed up back at school after having vanished for the summer, and be close to the new 'squib' teacher. And we'll have my lessons in secret, yes?"

He nodded. "Very good, very good." He complimented me. "Now, as for-"

"Where I'll stay?" I cut him off and by his look, I knew I had finished his sentence right. "My friends, the Weasleys, had been planning to take me to their house for the last two weeks of the summer holidays, I doubt they'd mind getting me a week late." I said with a grin, effectively solving our problem.

"Perfect," he agreed, satisfied with the arrangement. "Now, I do believe that we should go over what has and is changing with you, being a vampire now and all, and what it all means for you." He said, and I gave a slight nod, figuring that we'd be getting to this subject sooner or later. "Tell me, what have you noticed different with yourself so far?" he prompted.

I told him about what I had observed in the mirror earlier today, skipping over the part where I was naked at the time, and telling him about how my sight and hearing had improved, things I found myself liking very much, which I mentioned to him as well. It was not long before I was done. "But what about the fangs?" I asked Vick. "I know we have them, I saw you with them the night we met." I reminded.

"Yes, the fangs. They're almost like the eyes, in a way, where you can control their appearance, or in this case, a lack there of. You can will then to elongate or retract as you wish, it just requires a bit of concentration that comes naturally with us, so I assure you, you will have no trouble with it at all. Also, the fangs can be harder to control than the appearance of our eyes, because once we switch our eyes over to human form, they stay that way until we consciously set them back to their vampiric state. The fangs, on the other hand, have a tendency to show themselves when we are extremely hungry, or are overwhelmed by the scent of blood. When that happens, it takes even an experienced vampire a large amount of control to keep them in check." He was thoughtful for a moment before he added, "Even if we can't control our fangs, the bloodlust can normally be suppressed, just thought you'd like to know. Though if anyone saw your eyes if that happened, you'd have one hell of a time explaining why they were red." He muttered the last part, but I heard him fine.

He was right, I felt that that information would be valuable t me in the future, if only to ease my nerves of my eyes switching back and forth while I was unaware.

Vick continued his lecture. "Now, you only mentioned your sight and hearing improving, but I'm sure that this is not the case. Tell me, what do you smell right now?"

I inhaled deeply, analyzing the scents in the air. "Dust, just a little of that, the flowers in the vase smell incredibly sweet, I can't describe it, it must be particular to that flower, you have a smell to you too, like shampoo and spice, along with something that reminds me of rain."

"Good," he complimented. "I smell like rain?" he continued, a bit puzzled, but soon shook it off. "Never heard that one before. Anyway, as you can see, or smell really, your sense of smell has already improved by leaps and bounds, as has your strength and speed, but I guess depending on what you're doing, you might not really notice it. All of these characteristics will grow stronger still, it usually takes forty-eight hours for all of the main traits to manifest."

I nodded, but felt strangely hungry for the first time today. It wasn't a longing for solid food, or any drink I knew of either. I was hungering for blood, and at the moment I had no idea what to do about it. I was perplexed, truly, but my problems were solved when my stomach growled, loudly, too.

Vick laughed, heartily at that. "Seems my little baby vampy wants his first meal," Vick said, becoming more serious, but the playful glint never left his demeanor. "We can go now, I find myself famished too, after turning you and all. Takes a lot out of a vamp, I tell you. Come on, we can save all this boring talk for after we get back." He said and stood, heading for the door and beckoning me to follow him.

'This is it.' I thought. 'After this, I'll really be a vampire. In my own head at least.' I had known there was no going back before, but now I saw that in full. I was going to go drink the blood of a random person, no _victim _off the streets, and I didn't care. Must be the thing Vick had talked about as seeing humans more so as food once you were turned.

Without a second though, I followed Vick, ready to do this, ready to partake in the sweet liquid that flowed from human veins and brought life and prosperity to my kind. And I wouldn't regret hunting this innocent human life at all, granted I didn't intend to end it, and I looked forward to it as well, with a feeling rising in my gut akin to that when I was heading out to play a quidditch match. This night would definitely be one to remember.

***Okay, for this, I had originally put "But it was dark last night when Vick and I . . ." That just sounded too much like Harry was insinuating they had sex so I changed it '^_^ That particular pair is **_**definitely**_** not the direction this fic is going in. I just thought you'd like to know.**


	5. The Hunt and Impending Company

**DISCLAIMER: Do I look like I own Harry Potter? Cuz if I did, I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfiction.**

**As it were, you have my apologies for how long it took me to update. I'm just a terrible, lazy person T.T But look on the bright side, the wait should make it that much better ^_^ Oh, who am I kidding, I know that's not true. -.- I guess the point is, enjoy XD**

**Remember, reviews are appreciated ^_^ I love hearing good things about my work :)**

*****One more thing, if this fic is riddled with mistakes like some of the other chapters, let me know and I'll fix it. I tend to be a bit lazy when it comes to editing . . .**

Vick and I jumped into his car, which was conveniently still parked out front from yesterday when I had arrived. The sun had gone down a bit ago, though you could still see the faintest glow from the setting sun in the west, barely visible over the trees.

Before long, we came to a small town, but Vick just kept driving, so I asked him why.

"It is never smart to hunt too near one's layer." He said. "Makes it much easier for the vampire hunters to find you." What he said made complete sense.

"So, every time you want to hunt, you have to drive forever?" I inquired, thinking that if I had to do this once a week, I would be thoroughly bored.

"Well, we vampires do have other means of travel, we just have to drive now because you don't know any of them yet." He glanced at me, and must have read off of my face that I wanted him to elaborate. "I've told you about how we can turn into animals, right? Those of us who can turn into a creature of flight usually fly to our destination, wherever that may be. Those who can't do that . . . they just fly."

I looked at him incredulously. "What do you mean 'fly'? You mean with a broom or something?" I asked, confused.

Vick chuckled. "Nah, kid. This is one of those odds and ends things I figured to get to you about sooner or later. The fact is, every vampire has wings. Don't look at me like I'm crazy. Think of it this way, why don't you? You've seen a veela before, right? Good. Then you know how they have wings, but you don't often get to see them. Ours are retractable like theirs. Every vampire's wings' coloring corresponds to their hair color, so obviously mine are blondish, while yours will be black."

I sat there, stunned, taking all of this in. "But," I objected. "how could I _possibly _ have wings? I mean, I didn't have them yesterday, how could they just form over night?"

"Think about it, Harry. You didn't have glowing eyes, pale skin, and enhanced senses yesterday, did you? No, didn't think so. Ask me more on the subject later if you want, but we have arrived."

I glanced around at our surroundings now that I was consciously aware of the car slowing down, and then parking. My adrenalin started pumping through my veins as I once again began to wonder about what was soon to come. The memory of myself guzzling Vick's blood popped into my head, and I wondered if the experience would be like that, or better. But one thing was for sure, I was _ravenous!_

I followed Vick out of the car and down the street, he was quiet, so I mimicked him and kept silent myself. Before long, he broke into another lecture on how to hunt, though.

"You either want to find someone already secluded, or lure someone away. It shouldn't be too hard for you, since you're so damn good-looking." He threw a smirking glance at me. "Cover their mouth if you must, you don't want them screaming, though they won't after you bite them. Also, you can make the experience either pleasurable or painful for your victim, varying levels of either as well, you just have to think it. The only thing is you can't make it hurt as much as the cruciatus curse, or make it better than sex." I blushed when he said that one, and he smirked at me, apparently amused by my innocence. "Also, if you leave them alive, look straight into their eyes and will them to forget. It's simple, really." He finished.

"You mean like you did to that woman in the alley?" He knew I was referring to the night we met.

"Caught that, did you? How very observant. Yes, exactly like that." He said and glanced around. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Vick asked, and then picked up the pace down the street.

"Uh, what exactly are we looking for?" I asked after several minutes of walking and watching Vick's eyes dart around in every direction.

"People. Anyone who is alone, or a group of two. That's why we parked in the middle of a residential area, plenty of alleys to munch in, no too many witnesses, and, most likely, a good few people out having a late night walk." He said with a grin. "Open your senses. Listen, smell, let your instincts help you find your pray." He said, sounding really into this.

"What if I drink too much?" I asked Vick, fretting. "What if I kill the person?" I asked that last question out of moral, not any semblance of caring for taking a human life, a quality I was sure I no longer possessed.

"It'll be fine. Actually, I'd be surprised if you didn't kill your first victim. I know I did, as did my sire before me. It's much harder to control the hunger when you first start out, you can take too much blood even if you don't need it." He reassured me. "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. When you're done feeding, weather the person is dead or alive, remember to lick the wound. Our saliva has healing properties that can even work on the dead. It's kinda like a 'leave no trace' thing, if you get what I mean?" he was grinning again, but my mind was running over the possibilities of what he had just told me.

"So, if I were to get a cut and I licked it . . . would it heal?" I asked.

"Yes, it works on any kind of open wound, you can use your spit to heal yourself or any others you wish." He replied, answering my question with patience.

My ears pricked suddenly, detecting movement just a few streets away from us. Vick heard it too and would probably have heard it sooner had he not been conversing with me. He motioned for me to follow him, but still signaling for me to remain quiet, as we stealthily made our way towards the noise.

Our pace quickened, moving inhumanly fast, crossing the length of a street with long bounds of speed and agility, and within less time than I would have thought possible, we came to the place where the voice, voices actually, originated from. It was a quaint little park, a few swings, a seesaw, some slides and benched. There were two girls occupying a few of the swings, talking and laughing together. They were young, teenagers, around my age I would guess.

Vick turned to me and whispered quietly, too low for a human to hear even if they were standing right beside us, but perfectly audible to my vampiric hearing. "We are going to walk strait up to them, flirt if necessary, but take them by force if they don't grab the bait." He said, his eyes perfect slits, fangs elongated.

I knew my eyes currently resembled that of a cat's as well, glowing their eerie green beginning to bleed into red, and my mouth was watering in hunger. The slightest breeze whipped the scent of the two girls to me, the smell of the hidden blood under their veins singing a delicious song to me. My fangs slid out of my gums in response. All I wanted at that moment was to sink my fangs into one of the girls' necks and partake of the sweet, _sweet_ blood that lay right under the surface. Vick was right. My first victim probably wouldn't survive.

I got a hold of myself as Vick began to walk toward the unsuspecting duo, who had probably snuck out to enjoy the night together, their parents having no idea they were gone, and would be frantic with worry when they would be nowhere to be found in the morning. I didn't really care at the moment.

The girls noticed us, and became wary, but melted soon after into giggles at Vick's charming, disarming smile. "How are you ladies this fine night?" he asked, flirtatiously, but not overly so, when we were in decent hearing distance from where they sat, getting closer with every step.

"Fine, how about yourselves?" the brunette called back boldly, her red headed friend looking on in admiration.

"Great." I answered cockily, feeling on top of the world, or at least I was for the moment, with those two fragile lives hanging in the palm of my hand. The feeling was invigorating, something I was sure would disgust Ron if he ever found out that I felt this way about drinking blood, or at the moment, just the thought of it as I hadn't truly don't it before. That time with Vick didn't count, or at least it didn't in my mind.

"So, what brings you two _gentlemen_," the red head stressed the word, "out this fine night?"

I smiled, trying not to seem dangerous or suspicious in any way. We were standing right by the swings they were on now. "Oh, I bet the same as you. We just wanted to get out and enjoy the night. It's just so peaceful, you know? And look what luck my brother and I got," Vick shot me an amused glance at the family title I had given him, "running into two beautiful ladies such as yourselves."

They were flattered, both blushing as my 'brother' agreed with me. I really hoped we could get this moving along, I didn't have any clue how long it would take them to notice our eyes or fangs, besides, I was starving.

"Well, if you want our company," The brunette said getting off of her swing, her friend following her example, "why don't we all go have a seat on the bench over there," she pointed to the left, "and get to know each other."

"That would be wonderful." Vick agreed, falling in beside the red head as we walked over, while I walked with the brunette.

"My name's Chelsea." The brunette said, "And that's Kate." She introduced her friend.

"I'm Harry," I countered, continuing the small talk. "and he's Vick." The girls 'oooh-ed' over us, complementing our names as we sat down, both myself and Vick by our respective girls.

I was truly salivating by now, barely able to catch any of the words the girls were saying, just nodding along while Vick supplied our end of the conversation. I knew that he normally would have taken the girl by now, but he was waiting for me to make the next move. Well, wait much longer he should not.

Kate was talking while I was staring, transfixed, at Chelsea's jugular, licking my lips. I couldn't help myself, I leaned over and kissed her neck, and Chelsea shrieked in indignation. "Hey, what they hell are you doing?" she spat angrily, trying to get up, but my arm shot out and pinned her to her seat.

"Harry," Vick warned, telling me to get on with it and quiet the girl, as he held his own captive, though both girls were struggling.

"Right," I agreed, though to what I wasn't exactly sure. I turned back to Chelsea, my mouth open, fangs protruding. The girl's eyes widened, staring at me with a transfixed horror. "You shouldn't talk to strangers, Chelsea." Was the last thing I said to her, and the last words she would ever hear as I plunged my fangs deeply into her neck, joining Vick in feeding, who had bitten his girl only moments before.

The taste was just completely _delicious_, I couldn't help but notice as I swallowed down mouthful after mouthful of the sweet crimson liquid that flowed through Chelsea's veins. I was, somewhat subconsciously, willing the girl to feel just enough pleasure to outweigh the pain, so I was somewhat startled when she moaned.

It didn't divert me from my feeding, no _feasting_, though, for I just kept guzzling her blood down like I would never taste anything this good again. Time passed, and the steady beating of Chelsea's heart began to fade into a weak, erratic thrumming, but still I couldn't pull away as I felt her life begin to ebb away.

Finally, her heart stopped, but I still kept sucking down what blood I could, until I was sure there was nothing left. I removed both my mouth and my fangs, after licking the wound closed of course, beginning to release my hold on the corpse that was already beginning to lose heat and become cold. I let the body slump onto the bench and stood up, Vick already having finished with his meal and waiting for me.

I licked my lips, feeling like I was on a high, I had never felt this good before. Vick smiled at me, the smile of an animal, one who had just engaged in the most vicious of fun. "Ready to go, Childe?" he asked, his voice musical, full of satisfaction.

I looked at him, then back at the two corpses that not decorated the park bench, their eyes open and sightless, skin even paler than my own. "Yes," I answered. "Let's go."

After that night we went hunting, the time began to pass rather quickly, with the majority of my time being filled with lessons on Vampire kind from Vick, and my own independent studies of the Hogwarts curriculum I had neglected in the past.

I became proficient in potions, memorizing ingredients and purposes, how to make entire potions, and how to correctly utilize certain components. These tasks, along with many others, were made much easier by the fact that vampire minds were unlike that of a weak human's. Our memories are borderline photographic, so after reading something, I could recall it nearly perfectly, and if I read it twice, I could recite the entire work word for word strait from memory.

Vick also said that because our minds were so different from that of other creatures, the Imperius curse wouldn't work on us. The way the curse was meant to bend the mind, to dominate the entire consciousness, was unable to comprehend the intricate folds and thought processes of the minds of vampires, and as such was completely useless.

I memorized Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and others the same way. I completed all of my summer homework in two weeks, though my other studies, Hogwarts related and not, continued out far past that. Even with my new resolution to learn everything as well as I could, it still took a while to read through five years of textbooks from every subject, not to mention twice, along with the practical sides of everything.

Yes, I was able to learn every type of magic I had desired, except for the Dark Arts. I had come to the conclusion that it would help me defeat Voldemort if I had a greater understanding of the magic that he and his followers used. I also was beginning to like the idea of being able to fight fire with fire, metaphorically speaking. No, as Vick was once muggle, and had no books on this subject, I resigned myself to wait until someone showed up who could teach me.

I was able to practice my magic here solely because Vick had a sort of unplottable, undetectable spell on the place, done with vampire magic of course.

Speaking of vampire magic, Vick taught me a new way to utilize potions with many different purposes. "Potions," he had said, "can be made and used by any magical creature with enough intelligence to do so. Most don't use potions in the way wizards do, but even the centaurs use them in their rituals."

I was amazed at this, he showed me how to brew many a poison, and even a blood substitute that would work for staving off the hunger for two weeks if we couldn't find blood in that time. It had to be administered daily, if being used, and had no nutritional value for us at all, it just kept the hunger away.

He told me of why the killing curse wouldn't work on us as well. The killing curse had been designed to stop ones bodily functions all at once, to kill you instantaneously. That only worked if provided a victim whose body could be permanently disrupted by that.

As vampires could survive anything but being decapitated and burned to a fine dust, the killing curse would only shut our bodies down for a short amount of time, before our internal magic had a chance to revive us. To all appearances, we would be dead, but the blood we routinely take in aids our magic, and that blood will fix any damage done to our physical shell.

Vick taught me how to return my eyes to a human state, and also how to fly. Using my wings was tricky at first, simply because I had a hard time grasping the concept of how to call upon them in the first place. It took numerous explanations from Vick that I had to picture my wings, then concentrate some of my vampire magic, the magic that swirled black and red inside of my core, into my upper back where the feathery appendages were sure to protrude from.

We spent hours on this, working, and just talking and joking when I needed a break. He was funny, hilarious even, and never ran out of patience when dealing with me, but then I guess that came from having over three hundred years of practice.

I was ecstatic when I finally managed to call upon my wings, which were, of course, a startling ebony, matching my hair. After that, it didn't take me long to be able to fly with them, and considering how easily I took to a broom, it wasn't surprising that I was a natural at this sort of flying as well.

Once I mastered my wings, we began to work on my animal transformations, which I found much easier after having grasped the concept behind calling upon my wings. It was much the same, really. I just pictured the image in my head, something I wouldn't have to do once I was proficient enough, call upon my magic, and let it take hold of me, mold me, until I was in the form I desired.

As it were, my animal forms were that of a very large wolf, a snake, and a stallion, all of them black with a strange, white marking on their foreheads, though none of them were recognizable as a lightning bolt. I practiced in these forms, as well as my normal human-like one, to test my agility, and other capabilities I had.

Along with all of these lessons, Vick taught me history, the arts, literature, and grammar. At first, I wasn't sure I would enjoy them as I did everything else, but soon found myself to be proven wrong. The history was fascinating the way he taught it, even though I did have to read chapters from numerous books in his colossal library, I found myself wanting to live up to his expectations, to please and impress him. He was becoming family to me, almost like a father slash brother figure, not that I minded.

He taught me the proper way to draw, once he had found out that I enjoyed sketching, and pulled my interests into painting as well. He had an amazing array of paints, easels, brushes, and tools I had ever seen, outshining those of any art store I had ever been in. After a bit of tutelage from Vick, my artwork was on part with many famous painters. Of course, a lot of famous painters _were_ vampires, and now I knew why.

He taught me music, something he thought was very important for a man to know because of the era he was born in. I was currently undergoing lessons for the piano, the violin, and because of my own request, the guitar. I was making much progress with them, my new vampiric abilities assuring that. It was so easy to pick the right note, to hear if my playing was off key, and such. I improved by leaps and bounds, but I still had a long way to go. Lessons would continue at Hogwarts.

As for grammar, Vick was just teaching me new words, and we didn't even have a set time, or even a real class for these lessons. He would just think of a word he thought I should know, and blurted it out, followed by an explanation of the meaning, and several examples of its use.

We had fun all the time, and the weeks flew by, and before I realized it, it was just five days before my birthday.

I once again found myself reading an incredibly worried letter, written my Mrs. Weasley herself, asking where I was, what I was thinking, if I was alright, and why didn't I come home?

I didn't even bother to try to stifle a sigh. Ever since I had disappeared from the Dursleys, I had been hounded by letters from my friends, the Weasleys, my godfather, Remus, Dumbledore, and several other order members. They all read basically the same as Mrs. Weasley's did, and I always replied back saying I was fine and I'd see them sometime before school started again. I'd also try to strike up a conversation in my return letters as well, but that was disregarded with more questions when I was written again.

I just ripped this letter in half this time, not wanting to have to deal with the same old same old.

I would bet money on my friends, if they were here, saying how out of character I was acting nowadays. I had to admit, they would be right, and I sighed again. I knew that becoming a vampire had changed me, made me darker and more serious, but I saw that as a good thing, as maturing even. I was growing up while I felt that they were incapable of letting go of the past.

My appearance had changed as well, just subtle things, such as my complexion and my eyes. My nails were harder, longer, and all in all a bit more feminine looking as well. Not to mention I had continued to grow my hair out, and it was nearing my shoulders in some places, already past them in others. My bangs were in that stage where they constantly fell in my face, no matter what I did, but I consoled myself by saying that they would soon be long enough for me to tuck behind my ears and actually stay there. I knew that my hair was causing me to take on a more feminine look, but I didn't really care, for I had recently 'come out' to Vick, admitting to him that I was gay, trusting him with my secret.

It had been a hard thing for me to do because as the-boy-who-lived, I was expected to be perfect, and being homosexual was a glitch I feared would make the masses criticize me all the more. Vick was the first person I had told as well, and he had told me that he had dated a few guys as well as many girls in the past, and that it was completely fine to be gay in vampiric society, for it was even more accepted here that with the wizards, mostly, he said, because we couldn't reproduce. I felt much better about myself after that, and that was around when I really stopped caring what people thought about me.

I left the torn letter on the floor of the sitting room, figuring Feppy or one of the other house elves would dispose of it for me sooner or later. I was currently heading to see Vick; he had requested earlier that I come see him after I read my mail, and I had no reason to contradict him, so I willingly complied.

I arrived at Vick's study, no longer bothering to knock like I used to when I first came here; we were past that. I waltzed in curious as to why I was summoned, and nothing beyond that.

Vick looked up from the book he was reading, sitting in his plush desk chair, and smiled when he saw me. "Harry!" he exclaimed. "Welcome to my humble abode!" I, of course, looked at him as though he had lost his mind, but we both knew we were just playing.

"Anyway, old man," Vick frowned at the title I had dubbed him with about a week ago, "Watcha want?" I asked casually, plopping down into one of the comfortable chairs that sat on either side of the room. I was laying sprawled on it sideways, with my legs dangling over one arm, and the rest of me leaning off the other, propped up by my elbow.

"I just wanted to let you know that we have company coming to stay with us for the rest of the summer." He told me.

"Company?" I echoed, confused. Vick had previously talked of his friends in the past, but I couldn't think of any reason for one of them to come here, let alone have need for Vick to put him up for the rest of summer.

"An old friend of mine, along with his godson, are seeking refuge with me. Their names are Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy." He finished.

"WHAT?" I gasped, jumping up from my relaxed position. "Why the hell are they coming here?" I spat.

Vick was somewhat surprised by my actions. "I take it you know these people and you are rather adverse to them?"

"You got that right!" I muttered. "Snape is the worst teacher I've ever had! He hates me for being my father's son, and Malfoy is a conceited little prick who always gets his way like the spoiled little rich boy he is! . . . Plus they're in Slytherin."

Vick raised an eyebrow at me. "Well, I should be able to solve most of your problems them. From the pictures you've showed me of your dad, I'd say you hardly look like him anymore, what with your hair and all." All being my vampire traits. "Also, you say this 'Malfoy' is rich and spoiled? Look at you now. You are currently the personification of that." He was amused. "Look at the expensive clothes you're wearing that I ordered special for you. You do what you want when you want to, sans your lessons. And I've heard enough about these 'houses' to figure that right now, you'd probably be sorted into Slytherin instead of Griffindor."

I stared at him, speechless, thinking over what he said. Yes, I'll admit I was currently spoiled, and I would have had one hell of a time adjusting to life as I lived it before, but since Vick and I were technically family because of our past, he had allowed me to have full access to his enormous funds and spend whatever I wanted, not that anything I bought put even the slightest dent into his resources. Yes, I was spoiled. As for the Slytherin thing? Well, he was right about that too. Seeing as I was almost sorted into the house of snakes the first time I went to Hogwarts, it wasn't too hard to imagine that that would be the only choice the hat would give me this time because of what I'd gotten myself into. I was a murderer now, and that was definitely a sign of Slytherin traits. For some reason, I didn't care.

"Alright," I sighed. "I'll try to get along with them as long as they don't start anything." I compromised.

"Deal. I'll talk to them about it when they get here." He agreed.

"When do they arrive?" I asked.

"Tonight," Vick replied. "We will be having a large dinner tonight because young Draco is a human, although Severus is not."

I 'hmmm-ed'. "I'd heard some rumors in school that Snape was a vampire, but I'd just thought that they were making it up because they didn't like him."

"They probably were." Vick countered. "Severus takes a potion once a week that keeps him looking the proper age. He was turned when he was twenty-one."

I nodded. "Sooo, why exactly are they coming here again?"

"Severus, as you should know from your Order of the Phoenix, is a spy on Voldemort. Well, he also spies for us vampires that don't wish to join the Dark Lord. As it were, his godson doesn't wish to take up the mark either, so to get him away from it, he thought to bring him here, to an undetectable location, instead."

"Makes sense." I said, still dreading their arrival, which was less than four hours away going by the time. It was four o'clock, I found by checking my relatively new pocket watch, and I would expect them here no later than eight.

A sudden question popped into my head. "Do they know that I'm here?" I asked.

Vick glanced back up at me from his book that he had continued to read. "No," he said wryly, "but I expect it will come to a bit of a shock to them after seeing your reaction to them. I doubt they'll like the idea of living with you any more than you liked the idea of them staying here."

I once again agreed with him, only silently this time. "Well, I'll see you later then." I said and turned to leave, but as I did so my body was contorting and changing into that of a wolf's. In light of recent events, I thought it would be pleasant to spend some time by myself in the forests surrounding the manor and get some fresh air on a run.

"Be back by six. They'll be here at seven." Vick called after me, obviously guessing my intentions. I gave a soft yip as confirmation and then set off at a swift lope though the mansion towards the front doors, where I would exit these binding walls and taste the freedom of the run.


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: As you see, I'm still writing. No money in this either. Damn.**

**NOTE: I wanna thank all of you who reviewed ^_^ There were more reviews for my last chapter than EVER before, so I was inspired to write. After I saw all the reviews, I wrote half a chapter in one go, which is why this chapter is out faster than the past few have been. So keep reviewing. I loves them ^_^ Thanx.**

Before long I had made it out of the mansion, crossed the grounds, and entered the surrounding forests. These forests, however, weren't magical, nothing like that of the Forbidden Forest. No, it was just a normal plot of trees, rather large, though it may be, and contained normal muggle animals and plants. Save for me, that was.

I was moving quickly, winding my way in and out of trees, fallen logs, and underbrush, enjoying the wind in my pure black fur, disregarding the white, unidentifiable smudge on my forehead. I disturbed a group of starlings, trampled on a mole, broke leaves, and for all purposes, just riled everything up, having a blast too. I even stopped to mark a tree or two or three. Hey, I was a wolf at the moment, so sue me.

The sun was sinking low on the horizon, my internal clock, which I could access as an animal, being unable to wear a watch and all, informed me that it was fifteen till six. I turned and began my trek back home, though somewhat unwilling when my thoughts turned back to the guests Vick and I were expecting.

Needless to say, I got sidetracked and arrived back at the manor nearly twenty minutes late, muddy and wet, twigs and leaves sticking in random directions out of my long hair.

I knew Vick was annoyed, though amused as well at my disheveled appearance. He asked me just one question: "Why?"

I coughed, embarrassed. "Well, uh, you see . . . there was this squirrel." I stated and Vick stared at me incredulously. "I swear I'm not lying. I was heading home and I saw it, just sitting there, staring at me. I could just tell it was mocking me, with its beady little eyes. So I chased it. That damn thing led me through a swamp, over a stream, and through several giant mud puddles!" I said with angry conviction.

"That still doesn't explain the leaves." Vick pointed out, trying not to laugh.

"It ran up a tree and I tried to follow it. Needless to say, it didn't turn out too well."

When I finished, Vick was laughing so hard, I thought he was going to fall over. "Oh my fucking God!" he gasped out, "I can't believe you were trying to one-up a squirrel and got beaten! That's just too funny!" he couldn't stop laughing. I just stood there and glared, even though I knew I deserved to be made fun of for that one.

After a bit, when Vick could breathe again, he told me, "Go get cleaned up and meet me at the entrance hall when you're finished. Our guests should be here by then." He said, and began to head on his way to finish any further preparations he had before two of the people I hated most in the world got here. Well, besides Voldemort.

I slunk away, lost in thought of how I was supposed to 'start anew' with Snape and Malfoy, distantly wondering if they would be willing to give it a shot at all. Logic pointed towards them doing it as to appease their host, but my heart told me that Vick would be hard pressed to get them to agree.

I made it to my quarters with ease, having not gotten lost since that first day Feppy had to come show me back to Vick. I walked strait though my bed chambers to the bathroom where I stripped instantly, this time turning on the numerous faucets for the bath to fill up instead of taking my usual shower. Obviously, I wanted to be late to the event of the evening.

I turned on a few taps for bubbles and my favorite scent as well before it filled too full, wanting to get the water completely saturated with both. It wasn't long before, completely nude, I slipped into the warm, border-lined hot water, my lower half covered by bubbles. I swam around for a few minutes before submerging myself in the water to try to get some of the mud and twigs out of my hair.

The process took a while and was rather laborious, but finally my longish hair was clean, along with the rest of me, and the bath water was draining away. I was wrapped in a towel, slowly drying myself off while brushing my hair at the same time. It was five to seven, and I was certain that I wouldn't make it to the entrance hall on time, and I was rather smug about that.

Once every inch of me was dry, I wandered out of the bathroom to my wardrobe where I picked out a pair of form fitting black jeans, which I promptly slid on, and a deep green wife-beater, which I donned as well. Lastly, I pulled out one of my new black silk robes, and slid them on over my ensemble, leaving the front open as to show my clothing underneath. Lastly, I pulled on my favorite black dragon hide boots, and went to inspect myself in the mirror.

Once I had told Vick I was gay, I didn't have a problem with spending a bit more time and expending more effort for my appearance just because I wanted to. I knew that he wouldn't poke fun at me for it, and thought it was a good thing I was doing what I wanted when it came to that department.

I looked good, better than good, I realized, I looked _hot_. Only one thing was missing though, and that was a clip for my hair, to keep it from falling unwarranted into my face. I pulled out my wand and picked up an old comb and transfigured it into a black clip and spent a few minutes trying to position it just right in my hair until I was satisfied. My eyes really popped out with my hair out of the way, and I liked it, even though it showcased my scar.

Once my hair was fixed, I began my decent down to the entrance hall, but stopped at the top of the staircase to eavesdrop on the conversation, as Snape and Malfoy had already arrived, apparently having just walked in the door.

"Severus!" Vick welcomed, "Good to see you again. Hello to you too, Draco." He added as the blonde teenager came out of Snape's shadow. Said boy proceeded to return the greeting, but his was not heartfelt like my sire's.

"It truly has been a while, Victor." I wondered why Snape called Vick by his full name rather than the nick name he seemed to prefer. Maybe it was just a Snape thing.

"Well," Vick continued, "Since you're here, there's no need to keep up the appearance, you can reverse the potion now." Snape nodded, seeming to agree with what Vick said. He pulled a vial of a dark liquid out of the folds of his robes and downed it, Vick casually looking on and Malfoy watching the tapestries, uninterested. I, however, though the transformation that occurred after the consumption of the unknown substance was amazing. Snape's features shifted, his face became less weathered and wrinkled, and when it was through, it looked as though a man in his early twenties was standing just inside the entrance hall, not a man who was the same age as my parents.

Snape smiled then, a warm expression that I'd never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would ever see on his face, let alone that he was even capable of such an action. "That feels better." The aforementioned commented.

Vick agreed. "It always does feel right to be in a natural form."

The two older vampires continued on a conversation while Malfoy just watched on from the background, seemingly forgotten, but I knew the other two were just as aware of his presence as I was. After much idle chatter, Snape finally got to a question Vick had apparently been waiting for. "So, have you been up to anything interesting?" Snape's question was innocent enough.

Vick suddenly looked somewhat sheepish, "Well, you see . . . there was this _one_ thing . . ." Great, I was currently being referred to as a thing. "I sort of changed someone a little less than a month ago, so he'll be living with us as well."

Snape raised an eyebrow at Vick's manner, not seeing a reason for his seemingly nervous behavior, seeing nothing wrong with his friend's actions at all. "This is your first heir, isn't it?" Snape asked. If by heir, he meant the only direct descendant of Vick's bloodline, then yes, he was correct, because Vick had told me a while ago that I was the first person he had ever turned. "Who is the fellow, anyway?"

"Harry Potter." Vick said, and the name caused both Snape's and Malfoy's heads to snap around and stare at Vick like he had two heads.

"What?" Snape screeched, while Malfoy just stood there, mouth agape, wanting to say something, and yet not wishing to meddle in the affairs of vampires. "I've told you about that boy in the past! He's a spoiled little brat with no regard for his superiors or the rules! How could you even _think_ of turning that child?" Snape spat in disbelief.

Vick's gaze and tone of voice were both level and cool when he replied, "I met the Childe by chance when I was out hunting one night, and he didn't seem afraid of me, even when he figured out what I was. I must say, I was intrigued by the boy even before I learned his name. We introduced ourselves and chatted for a while, and it just struck me out of nowhere that he would be perfect to carry on my line! But more importantly, we get along great!" he finished in that happy-go-lucky voice of his.

I figured now was as good a time as any to make my appearance, so I descended the stairs fully utilizing my newly acquired inhuman grace, head held high, refusing to be intimidated by a professor who had done that to me many times in the past. "Hello, and good evening." I said.

"Harry!" Vick exclaimed, and then shot me a playful glare. "I thought I told you to be here at _seven_ not ten after." He prodded.

"Hey," I protested. "I got held up!"

He snorted. "Yeah, by a squirrel, and now apparently a hair clip." He mocked, taking in the new style I had used with my hair.

"Actually, it didn't take too long to get this thing in my hair." I replied casually.

Vick smiled at me, amused, and then turned to Snape and Malfoy, both of whom were glaring at me distastefully. Vick's eyes narrowed at the sight of it and said, "Look, I won't have the three of you breathing down each other's necks while you're here, so do _try _ to get along. Harry said he'll forget the past and look to the future if you will. Just try to get to know each other for real this time before you go passing judgment." He lectured.

Snape pondered it for a moment before agreeing, though one Malfoy was none too pleased with the agreement.

"Right," said Vick, clapping his hands together. "Harry, would you show Draco to his room then? Get him settled in before dinner at eight? It's the one across the hall from yours and to the left. I'll show Severus to his." He said, and swept away, not really giving me a choice in the matter. "By the way, his things will already have been taken there by Finny." He added, and then disappeared down a hall, Snape in tow.

I sighed and turned to Malfoy, who was regarding me with a rather strange look. Suddenly, he blurted, "Why would you, the 'great' Harry Potter, want to be a _vampire_ of all things?"

Wow. He really had no tact did he? "It gives me certain advantages over Voldemort." I stated the obvious answer, then added, more thoughtfully, "And I wanted to make my own choices in life for once, not let someone tell me how to live." With that, I turned and made my way back up the staircase the way I had come, with Malfoy following closely behind me, desiring not to get lost in the twisting hallways.

Turn left here, right there, another right, and so it continued as we traversed though the labyrinth, and I was really starting to wonder why Vick's house was so fucking big. After a good deal of walking, Malfoy and I finally arrived at the room that was destined to be his.

"Here we are." I announced and opened the door, stepping into the rooms in front of him. I had never been in these chambers before, so I was unsure what to expect. What greeted me was a room significantly smaller than my own, done in a medium gray carpet with gray-green walls. The furniture was done in black, and the bed coverings were a deep gray, which reminded me of slate, and the pillows themselves were black.

I glanced at Malfoy, who was taking in the same sights as me. He was, no doubt, cataloging in his mind the dresser and queen sized bed, the window, though it didn't have a balcony like my own and the two little tables on either side of the bed.

"Not too bad, but my room at Malfoy manor was better." I snorted at his snobbery.

"Well, if you _want_ to be Voldemort's lackey for the rest of your life, then by all means, go back home." I said patronizingly, but then regretted it because I had broken my promise to Vick to try and get along with our company. Also, for some reason, I felt compelled to let Malfoy know that my disrespect hadn't been intentional, so I voiced my thoughts. "Shouldn't have said that. Told Vick I'd try to get along with you, so you have my apologies for my rash words." I said.

Malfoy, however, was gaping at me. "Did the Great Harry Potter just _apologize _to me?" he asked incredulously, with a teasing edge to his words.

"Why yes, I do believe I did." I answered, and we both chuckled at our little joke, but quieted soon enough, feeling awkward enjoying each other's company, even a little bit seemed a bit taboo after our history.

"Well," I said after I cleared my throat. "I'll leave you to your unpacking. I'll come get you in—" I pulled my pocket watch out and glanced at the time, which happened to be seven thirty. "—twenty minutes for dinner." I said then swept out of the room, a flurry of dark robes.

I began thinking to myself as I promptly crossed the hall, angling down a little, and entered my room where I plopped casually onto my bed. Draco, now that he wasn't acting out rightly hateful toward me, didn't seem too hard to get along with. He even seemed willing to make idle chatter, something I hadn't heard him try to do since . . . Since when? Ah, back when we first met, in Madam Malkin's shop. He was talking to me then, trying to be friendly in his stuck up way, I saw now, but failing miserable for he had insulted me without knowing he was doing so.

Then that time in the school, right before we were going to be sorted, he had asked for my hand in friendship then, but I had snubbed his request in favor of Ron, whom he had also insulted without regret. I had thought him pompous back then, but now I was seeing things in another light. Malfoy only hated me after I had openly brushed him off, after I had embarrassed him in public.

He had just been an eleven year old boy, granted I had been too, but I always saw myself as older than most of the other kids there, probably because of my upbringing. Malfoy, being from a good pureblood family, probably didn't know that there were wizards like me out there, raised by muggles but not a muggleborn, and had no idea his words had hurt me.

He had probably also been taught his entire life that he was above common wizards like the Weasleys, and as such had no problem in belittling them. He really _had_ just wanted my friendship, I realized, and I had passed it up due to his ignorance. Ignorance, I now knew, that had not been intended, just an innocent desire for friendship.

I began to sink lower into my mind, miserable. Had I really been the one to cause all of that hate, the ill feelings between us, with a bit of ignorance of my own at the time? That I so easily insulted this proud pureblood without meaning too, myself being ignorant to the ways of magic.

I sighed, and came to the conclusion that it probably was my fault, just like everything else gone wrong in this world, and that I should do something to remedy it. But first, I had to find out if my musings were true or not.

Not caring that I was going to be early, I left my room, walked the short distance to Malfoy's, and knocked on the door, disregarding that he wasn't expecting me yet for the desire to talk with him was too strong, almost like I was subconsciously being compelled to, like something greater would come out of us reconciling.

The door opened, a cool "Yes?" fresh off of Malfoy's lips.

"I wished to talk to you, if that's all right with you? I've been thinking, and what I want to say would have bugged me all through dinner if I didn't ask you now." I told him. He was a bit startled at first, but then opened the door wider, a clear invitation for me to enter, but weather this was done out of respect for his host or curiosity of what I had to say, I had not a clue.

"Well?" Malfoy prompted after he had taken a seat on his slate gray bed, and I on his desk chair.

"I've been thinking," I started, but Malfoy snorted at me. I continued as though I didn't notice. "When we first met back in first year, I insulted you, didn't I?" I asked earnestly, my voice ringing with the sincerity of my words, honestly wanting to know if I had or not.

We stared at each other for a bit before he finally responded with a nod. I smiled slightly before continuing. "I will admit that I didn't get the best impression from you when we met in Madam Malkin's, and I'd never really had any friends before I met Ron, and so you insulting him when we met again really set me off. But now I realize that it wasn't really your fault."

He cocked his head, looking at me in surprise. "Really now? How so?"

"You had just come out of the protection and shelter of your house where everyone catered to your every whim as the Malfoy heir, and I bet you had no idea how to get what you wanted by actually being nice. I bet you just thought that everything you wanted would fall right into the palm of your hand. You hadn't truly faced the outside world before, so you had no idea how the world worked."

I watched as a faint flush graced Malfoy's cheeks. "You're right about that." He muttered.

I smiled. "And I knew nothing of how the wizarding world worked back then, so I had no idea how rude I was to publicly denounce your friendship, or that you could actually act decently to me if I would have accepted it. We were both ignorant, that much is true." I said.

"You're right about that as well. I had wondered what was wrong with you, embarrassing a _Malfoy_ like that, and I couldn't believe you would choose that Weasley over me. I mean, I _am_ better than him, with both money and status." He said pompously.

I sighed and ran my hand though my lengthening hair. "Just because you have wealth and power doesn't make you any better than another person. Maybe more important, yes, but a life is a life and all are equal when it comes to that. Besides, the Weasleys are really nice people, better than you could ever hope to be." The last comment I uttered without any hint of insult, it was just meant to be a true statement.

"If by 'better' you mean all nice and cheery, then yes." Malfoy agreed. "So, what was the point of all this anyway?" he asked, getting to the point abruptly.

I inhaled deeply, and then began to spill my reasoning. "I had been thinking about our pasts and how unfair everything started out, so I figured, given the circumstances, that we could start again." I stood up and walked over to Malfoy and held out my hand. "So what say you? Want to give friendship another try?"

Malfoy stared at my hand, unblinking and unmoving, but slowly a smile began to creep over his face. He took my hand in his own, his grip firm and strong just like mine, and shook it. "Call me Draco." Was the only thing he said.

"Call me Harry." I countered, a smile spreading across my own lips. All too soon we released hands, and for some strange reason, I felt myself missing the contact dearly, but decided not to dwell on it. I noticed a bit of a strange look on Draco's face too, as if he had felt the same connection.

It was then that I noticed the time. "Come on, it's time to go." I said, gesturing towards the clock on the mantle that informed that we had ten minutes to make it to the dining room.

"By all means," Draco said, heading to the door before me and holding it open, "Let's go." And so we did.

On the way down to eat, we talked idly, about nothing, anything, whatever struck our fancy at the moment. We discussed owls, and Draco complimented Hedwig, saying she was a fine owl, and he would not have minded to have her as her own. I supposed I should take that as a compliment, really, having an owl who was up to Malfoy standards, some of the highest to reach.

We arrived to the dining room, walking side by side, talking like old friends. It was amazing what one heart to heart could do to two people's opinions of each other. To say Snape looked rather horrified at our casual manner would be an understatement.

"Draco!" he hissed. "I thought you hated Potter!" oh no, he was not happy at all, while Vick couldn't wipe the grin off of his face.

"I did," Draco replied nonchalantly, pretending to study his nails, "But then we both realized how big of idiots we were to be enemies from a little misunderstanding from when we were eleven. Best not to let such mistakes destroy what could have been, huh Severus?"

Snape was sputtering, and I had to suppress a laugh, but I sobered up as Draco continued to speak. "Besides, from what I've just seen of him, he's nothing like what we thought. I mean, come on, if he really was just the mindless Gryffindor we thought he was, would he really have taken the time to try and reconcile such misunderstandings with me and ask for _my_ friendship, that of a Slytherin?" he asked his godfather, whom had no answer for his question, and as such quieted and waited for dinner to be served.

Vick was sitting at the head of the table, and Snape was directly to his left while I took my place on his right, Draco moving around the table to sit by the ex-Death Eater.

"Well now friends," said Vick, "Do enjoy." And with that, a mini feast appeared on the table before us. It consisted of several dishes of pork, chicken, turkey, and ham, along with mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables, and several other sides. Vick, Snape, and Draco all took healthy helpings of the food, Vick because he liked the taste, Draco because he was hungry, and Snape because he was so used to doing so during his time at Hogwarts. I, however, took small helpings of nearly everything, with it amounting out to about half of what I would normally have eaten were I still human.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you hungry?" he asked me, as he was eating his food, though not without the best of table manners.

I shook my head. "Nah, vamps don't need to eat people food." I said with a grin, and forked some potatoes into my mouth, and swallowed. "But it still tastes damn good!" I said contently, delving once again into my food and savoring every bite as I hadn't had anything except blood in weeks.

"Suit yourself. More for me." Was Draco's reply.

"Manners, Draco, manners." Snape admonished him, apparently not approving of Draco's last comments.

"Oh, come on Severus!" Vick whined from his place at the table. "Lighten up. Let the kid live a little." He said, purposely putting his elbows on the table in a show of bad manners. It was just a little antagonizing gesture, but it really irked Snape.

"Don't go corrupting my godson." He hissed foul-temperedly.

I looked between Snape and Vick. "Are you _sure _you two are friends? Cuz you sure as hell don't seem like it." I commented offhandedly.

"Ooooh, he has cheek! I love it!" Vick said, his eyes shining with amusement and good humor. "I swear Severus, it never gets boring here with him around. And just look! Now little Draco has a friend to play with!" he crowed.

Snape, however, seemed to have given up. "And you're how old?" he sighed at the hopeless cause he considered Vick.

Meaningless chatter filled the rest of the time until the elves removed our dirty dishes and clean ones, along with a dessert that consisted of an enormous chocolate cake appeared before us. Draco's eyes were wide in anticipation of having some.

Vick sliced the cake and dished it out, but when I reached for a piece of my own, he pulled it away sharply. With a horrified gasp, he said, "No, bad Harry!" I looked at him strangely, wondering what he was up to now. "You didn't eat your vegetables! No cake for you!" he said.

I was amused now. "Come on old man, hand it over." I said as he pulled the cake even closer to himself.

"Never!" he said, then took the cake and ran, though I wasn't far behind him. I couldn't believe he was doing this now of all times, right after we had gotten company too. Said company was watching on, one highly amuse, the other annoyed beyond measure.

I chased Vick around the large dining room, going faster and faster, though not nearly at our full speeds, and eventually we came to a stop at opposite ends of the table from each other. "Well?" I asked Vick, waiting.

He tsked. "Okay, fine. You can have some cake now." He said with mock reluctance to hand it over. Finally, I was glad to have cake on my plate and ate it contently, doing my best to ignore the stares of Snape and Draco. Honestly, can't a guy eat his cake in peace?

The others finished up with their dessert and headed their own separate ways, but I opted to stay and have another piece of cake. It was just _that_ good. And it's not like I was going to gain any weight from pigging out, being a vampire and all.

When I finally left the dining room my senses told me that Draco was back in his room and Vick and Snape were in Vick's study, probably catching up after a long while apart. Knowing that, I made my way to the extensive manor library where I spent the rest of the night reading, researching, and working on different assignments that Vick had given me, not even being close to done. It did take one a while to read numerous thick volumes. All the same, I was enjoying learning.

Despite being in the library, my attention eventually was drawn to the Grand Piano stationed there, so I practiced my music as well. The sun rose, and the three of us vampires made our ways to bed, ready to sleep the daylight hours away, though there was a slight thought in my mind that Draco had better get used to a nocturnal life if he didn't want to be bored and alone every day.


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: For those of you who don't know, I don't own Harry Potter. Have a nice life ^_^**

**Sorry for taking so long to update '-.- my computer crashed. *mutters* stupid technology! Oh well. Here it is. Enjoy ^_^**

The days passed quickly, and Draco had in fact become accustomed to the night life, though he still had faint dark circles around his eyes in the mornings. Sorry, _evenings._ My lessons with Vick continued as well, but he gave me a bit more free time to hang out with Draco, whom I was becoming increasingly good friends with. It was kind of strange, though, that we had been enemies for five years, but it was easily put behinds us, gladly as well, and we just hit it off.

Secretly, I thought that Draco was incredibly handsome, and I harbored a silent desire that it would turn out that he played for my team. I sighed to myself when I thought of the probability of that actually happening. He was the Malfoy heir, however averse to serving Voldemort as he was, and was expected by everyone to take on a wife and produce little Malfoy offspring and so continue the cycle that his pureblood ancestors had started.

I had even started to gain better status with Snape, though he still insisted that I address him as nothing but Professor. At request from Vick, he was giving me supplementary lessons in potions, and it was obvious that he was pleased at how quickly I was starting to pick the subject up. I had already improved by leaps and bounds before he started the tutoring, but there were just some things you couldn't learn from books, so I went along with it.

Vick and Snape had gotten to talking about my progress before at one of our meals, and I of course eaves dropped. "Yes, he really is adept to learning." Commented Vick. "Even more so than most vampires I've met. Seems to have a talent for learning when he puts his mind to it, doesn't he?"

Snape had agreed. Needless to say, his glares and spiteful comments directed at me were nearly nonexistent now, and I was grateful.

Tonight, as it were, happened to be my birthday, or at least it would be once the clock struck midnight. I would be sixteen in a matter of hours, I mused, pulling my thoughts out of the recent past.

I heard a knock at my door, as I was in my room, and called out for the person in question to enter. Enter they did, and before I knew it one Draco Malfoy was standing in front of me, taking in the lounging position I was currently in on my bed.

The first time Draco had seen my room, he was a bit jealous as it was of much better quality, mainly just from the size, than his rooms were. Thankfully, he got over that quickly and had taken to insisting that our little get togethers were hosted in my chambers. I was completely fine with that so I naturally complied.

"Yes, Draco?" I asked, as he seemed a bit nervous now, but he just kept staring at me, being silent so I just turned my gaze back to the book I had opened in front of me. It was one of the fiction books I had bought before my day out with Tonks, and I had to say I was enjoying it very much.

Draco just kept staring at me, not that I really minded, and I noticed that his gaze traveled from my face, down to my chiseled and well-toned chest that could be seen through my casually open button down shirt, and over the rest of my body as well. I could sense the heat in his cheeks as well.

I was pretending to ignore him, yes, but his rapt attention on my body made doing so completely impossible. The hope once again rose in my chest that Draco was gay too, and liked me the way I liked him. I didn't just like him for his hot body, but that was definitely a plus. No, I liked him as well for the boy I had gotten to know so well recently.

Draco cleared his throat and my breath stuck in my throat at the musical sound. "Harry," he started, then trailed off, unsure of himself. "Harry, I just wanted to tell you Happy Birthday." He said quickly, embarrassed and looking away.

I smiled, warmth in my eyes. "Why thank you Draco." I said and pulled myself from my sprawled manner into a sitting position, legs crossed, book down and marked.

"A—and I wanted to . . . to give you something." He said, fidgeting now. Damn, he really had my attention.

"And that would be?" I prompted, curious, having no idea what to expect or what was going to happen next.

It happened fast. Draco leaned down, faltering for only a moment, and pecked my lips with his own. I was rigid with shock, unable to react before he pulled away. "I—I'm sorry." Draco stammered afterwards, backing away. "I don't know what came over me, I just—I'll go now." He said in a flurry, trying to turn around and leave. I wasn't about to let that happen.

Using my vampire speed, I was standing behind him in a flash, my hand tightly holding his arm. "Draco," was all I said and he turned around. That was all the time I needed to capture his lips in my own, and he responded, kissing me back, though at first it was a bit mechanic from his shock. Soon he got more into it, and our mouths worked against each other's, in a fiery passion. Our tongues did not dance with each other's during this; the kiss was chaste, though it was not innocent.

We pulled apart, breathless, eyes shining. "So," I said after a moment. "How'd you know I was gay?" I asked bluntly.

He almost choked on nothing. "I had absolutely no idea." He was blushing.

I was smiling, unable to repress it. "Well, that was the best birthday present I could ask for." His gaze snapped to mine, surprised. "Oh, come on," I told him. "I've always thought you were hot, but too much of an ass to bother with. But now that I've gotten to know you, I really like you." I told him honestly.

He was tomato red, something that I thought made him look even more delicious than he already did. "Yeah, well I've liked you for a hell of a long time, for a lot more than just being good looking." He muttered. "I just always figured that you hated me so much that there was no point in pursuing you, so I just kept up our constant bickering as an excuse to talk to you." He admitted, although I could tell it took him a lot to do that.

"Yeah, well, so we both like each other. So where does that leave us?" I asked, curious.

Draco answered me. "Not just friends, definitely, but not really dating either." His expression was considering. "I'd say were in the stage right after the first date." He paused, blushing before he continued. "Not _not_ together, but not together either. Somewhere in between, but not too far from dating." Was all he said.

I smirked. "So all we need is a second date, then we'll be boyfriend and boyfriend?" I asked him. He nodded. "Tell me when and where, Draco, when and where." He looked at me surprised.

"How about tomorrow night? You're going out hunting tonight with Severus and Vick—" he had taken up Vick's nickname after a few days and persistence from Vick himself, "—so, that wouldn't work."

That put a damper on my good mood. "That means I don't get to spend as much time with you." I pouted. "Well," I countered, "We could still do it tonight, just after I get back. It should only take a few hours anyway. Then you can open presents with me. No, not the ones you and Vick got me, the ones from Sirius and my other friends. I'm gonna open them in here, you're welcome to join me."

"I'd like that." Draco said happily.

"I have to go now though." I told Draco. "Vick's already outside waiting for me."

"Can I walk with you?" Draco asked. "And I'd love to watch you all leave." He said excitedly, wishing to watch us all take to the skies with our incredibly large wings.

I gladly agreed, happy to spend more time, even if just moments, with my not-boyfriend. We chatted easily on our way down the stairs, our hands linked together, fingers intertwined, not having a care in the world. It didn't take long to get from my room to the front yard of the mansion, though the time seemed to fly by even faster while spending it with Draco.

"Hello." I said politely to Vick and Snape. The former just smirked at me though, his eyes pointedly on mine and Draco's joined hands, while Snape just stared at us in disbelief.

"I told you, Sev!" Vick crowed. "With Harry being a rainbow boy and Draco being one too, I _told_ you that they'd get together! And now you owe me five galleons!" Snape, true to their bet, handed over the money in a sulking manner.

Draco was blushing, very cutely I might add, at Vick's words, so I squeezed his hand a little tighter, smiling in reassurance before I turned back to the two adults. "You forgot one thing: Draco is _gorgeous_!" I just had to say that, and the red on Draco's cheeks flushed a deeper red, and despite just having discovered we liked each other, it made me want to ravish him without a second thought.

Snape's mutter of "I can't believe this." Pulled my mind out of the gutter and got me to pay attention again.

I reluctantly pulled my hand from Draco's. "It's time to be off then, isn't it?" I asked, but the question was more of a means to get things moving along. Vick nodded the affirmative and began to call on his wings, the appendages unfurling from his back adorned with great plumes of golden blonde feathers. Snape soon followed suite, only his wings were a shining ebony, having a great resemblance to my own.

I turned to Draco before I called upon my own wings, wishing to say farewell, though I had to wait a moment until he pulled his awed gaze away from the winged vampires I knew to be standing not far from where I was at the moment. "Draco," I said once his attention was directed toward me, "See you soon." And then I pecked him on the lips. It was quick and chaste, but sill drew an annoyed snort from Snape. With that I turned and walked toward the waiting party and released my wings. Without any further time wasted on words, the three of us vampires took to the skies with amazing leaps of great strength and agility along with the rapid beating of our wings to gain altitude.

The manor was left behind quickly as we began our one hour flight to a small town by the name of Coltsfoot, our predetermined destination for this evening. I was looking forward for tonight's hunt specifically. I hadn't taken a life since my first hunt and that was the most exhilarating feeling I've ever experienced, no matter how wrong it was on principle. Tonight, however, lives would be taken in celebration of my coming into this world. Lives would be taken to better our own.

The last of the light faded from the horizon during our flight, no clouds in sight. The stars shone with a brilliant radiance one could only appreciate when this close to the sky. Our flight was a silent one, but still comfortable. It was difficult to talk over the winds that whipped around us as it were. We were almost upon our destination as well. The sprawling web of lights that made up the city was clearly visible from our point in the sky, growing closer with every powerful beat of our enormous wings.

Soon after my observations we began our decent, gliding gently downward on fully extended wings until we saw fit to land just outside of town in an open field away from the immediate civilization and the prying eyes of curious humans.

My landing was especially graceful, in my opinion, and I quickly retracted my winds, though I felt myself become annoyed that I couldn't be the one to spell my shirt untorn for the magic from my wand could be tracked out here. I sighed as I waited for Snape to do it, promptly after he had already taken care of himself and Vick. Yeah, the only bad thing about traveling with wings was they tore up your shirt every time. Bloody annoying, really.

Once we were ready to go, I asked, "So, where to now?"

Vick glanced at me. "This is your birthday, you lead the way."

I shrugged and went with it. I felt my senses pulling me toward the left, into a desolate part of the town, but I knew instinctually that there was much prey out there.

"Now, Harry," Vick started to speak as we walked, "During one's birthday celebration, it is more common than not to take more than one life for sustenance in celebration."

"So it's perfectly fine for me to kill more than one person?"

"Yes," he replied, "Us as well." He gestured to himself and Snape. "Though I personally don't usually go over three kill at once because it becomes wasteful."

I mused this information over. "Is there any more reason to kill more than once but the continuous high taking a life produces?" I inquired.

"As a matter of fact, yes." It was Snape who answered my question, and to say I was surprised would be an understatement. "The more you kill, the better it _feels_. Its more than just the same feeling of elation you get after just one, it builds on itself."

I nodded to him. "Thank you." I said outright to show my appreciation. Snape's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked away.

We were walking through old back alleys, myself still in the lead, when Vick spoke again. "So, what's up with you and Draco?" this question caught Snape's attention as well, and even though I knew he was pretending otherwise, his focus was rapt on us.

"Well, since Draco dropped the whole 'Voldemort's awesome, I'm gonna be a Death Eater' thing when we got here, turns out we're not so different." I paused for a moment before adding as an afterthought, "Plus, we're both gay. I believe that, along with Draco being hot, speaks for itself." I shrugged, knowing that that last comment was rather simple minded.

"Suite yourself." Vick said. "I don't have a problem with it."

"I do." Snape muttered off to the side.

"Oh, and why is that?" Vick shot back, though I must admit, I was incredibly curious of his answer.

The black haired man sputtered for a moment before saying, "Draco is the young heir of the Malfoy family! It's simply not done!"

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Uh huh. And until you come up with a better answer than that, I will happily ignore any qualms you have about me and Draco." I said. Snape just glowered and remained silent.

Vick, apparently, had more to say on the subject. "Well, I guess I'm happy for the two of you then. On another note, I don't care what you two do as long as I don't see it or hear it."

My face went beat red, obviously. "But Draco and I just got together! And we're not even really dating yet!" I protested, all the while feeling like a hypocrite as earlier I had been thinking about ravaging the beautiful blonde boy. "It's not like that." I finished pathetically, Vick not even believing a word I said. I needed to change the topic desperately, as to get Vick's condescending gaze off of me.

To do so, I turned my attention back to the hunt and noticed we were wandering down an old alleyway. The noise of a child crying came to my ears. Vick and Snape heard it too, their attention fixed on it. "I think its outside." Snape said. "And I don't sense anyone else with it either." It was strange to me, a human child being referred to as an 'it'. It also struck me that the Potions Master was insinuating that this distraught child was dinner. I knew I should be horrified at this, but the only honest thought that popped into my head was _I wonder what the blood of a child tastes like?_

The three of us continued down this desolate alley until we came to the source of our interest. It was a little boy, around the age of five or six, huddled down in the only patch of grass in sight, hugging his knees with tears streaming down his face. He looked up when he noticed up, hiccupping.

I walked over to him and knelt down so my face was closer to his level. "What's wrong, little guy?" I asked in what was a soothing voice, my two vampire companions watching this little display.

He hiccupped again, then said through his tears, "I just wanted to play outside at night! Mommy said no, but I did it anyway. Now I'm lost!" He wailed. "I wanna go home! I want my mommy!" he screeched. I was beginning to worry someone would hear him. But then I figured if someone showed up, it wouldn't really matter. It would be like food walking right into the palms of our hands.

"Shhhh," I soothed, trying to quiet him, while glancing up at Vick, unsure if, even for vampires, it was morally wrong for one to feed from a child. I received no such warnings.

"Go ahead," Vick said.

"It's always customary for the Vampire being celebrated to make the first kill." Snape added, believing this was an important piece of cultural information to know. I silently agreed with him, now more intent on the matter at hand.

"Shhhh," I said again to the child. "It's alright." I continued, and began to scoop the child into my arms, sliding him onto my lap as I was sitting Indian style. The boy, clinging to any sort of comfort what-so-ever, latched onto my shirt and began to sob into it. My fangs elongated; my eyes turned red with lust. "It'll all be over soon." I reassured him as I methodically lowered my mouth to his tiny neck.

He screamed when I bit him, trying with all of his might to pull away. He was in pain from this, hurting. I don't know why, but I was compelled not to let this child feel any pleasure in death. I think it was because he was so innocent, so pure. And I resented him for it, most likely on a subconscious level as I was never as innocent as him, still having faint memories of watching my mother die as an infant.

So the boy died in pain, slowly but surely. His body was small, so it took but a few mouthfuls of sweet crimson before his heart stopped beating. I licked the wound, now finished, and laid the tiny corpse on the ground. The last thing I took not on was how tear track still ran down from his unseeing eyes. Then we moved on.

We returned to the mansion about two and a half hours later, having been gone for a total of four, with our stomachs full and our minds content. As my first victim was so small, I had ended up killing two other humans that night, feasting on their blood. Snape and Vick had each devoured two poor souls as well, and all of our eyes still appeared faintly red after our gluttony.

Stepping inside, I said my farewell to my two companions. "Well, I'm off to see Draco!" I said with enthusiasm and a happy smile, leaving the two friends sharing glances, one amused, one peeved, in the entrance hall.

"I guess he'll be opening my present later." Was all Vick said.

I made it up to the corridor Draco and I shared in record time, and made a bee-line strait to the aforementioned's door. I rapped three times, the noise echoing, and in no time at all, my blonde beauty was in front of me. "What are we waiting for? Come on!" I said to him, still chipper. I grabbed his arm and nearly dragged him the short distance to my chambers, and threw him into a chair.

"Jeez, what's got you in such a bloody good mood?" Draco asked, straightening out his rumpled clothes, slightly annoyed.

"Language, Draco." I admonished in a singsong voice. "Anyway," I continued, calming down a bit. "We agreed you would come and open present's with me when I got back." I looked at him expectantly, waiting for what he would say next.

He sighed first. "All right all ready." He said, his voice a bit amused by my antics, although he had no idea my strange behavior was caused by large quantities of blood. "Let's get on with it then."

I cheered happily, like I had won some major contest, and turned to face the numerous owls waiting to be released from their burdens. Hedwig was among them, with a package as well. _She must have picked it up while I was gone._ I thought to myself.

Making my decision on which owl to go to first, I went to Hedwig, desiring to care for my owl more than the other, mostly unfamiliar owls. "Hey there, pretty girl." I cooed to her while removing the package and letter from her being. She hooted gratefully at me and flew back into her cage where she began pruning her feathers.

"Well, go on, open it." Draco's encouragement came from where he was seated, his form unconsciously leaning forward as to have a better view.

"Okie dokie!" I said to him, pulling the card open first. It read:

_ Dear Harry,_

_Happy birthday! I just wanted to say that to you first in case I got caught up in ranting at you. Harry James Potter! How dare you run away from home! You should be more sensible, what with You-Know-Who after you! Come home immediately!_

_ Your Friend,_

_ Hermione_

I sighed, torn between my feelings of enjoying getting a card from one of my oldest friends, and annoyed that she had chastised me in that very same letter. Couldn't she just leave well enough alone for once? Determined not to dwell on my irritation, I ripped strait into the present she sent me. It was a book, no surprise there, and the title read **Convenient Cures to Curses. **Though the title was corny, after flipping through a few pages, I deduced that it could be useful.

"Well, what is it?" came Draco's curious nagging after I had gone back to staring at the cover, so I tossed the leather bound volume to him. After having my nearly boyfriend sufficiently occupied, I moved on to another owl, one I identified as Pig.

As soon as that little owl figured out I was going in his direction, he began to screech and hop around like there was no tomorrow, puffing out his feathered chest in a way that I guessed he meant to make himself look proud. "Can't you shut that thing up?" Draco growled, annoyed.

"Oh, hush Draco." I lightly admonished. "Pig's just happy to see me."

The blonde haired boy looked at me incredulously. "That thing's name is Pig?"

I nodded, opening the letter. "Yeah, Ginny named him Pidgewidgeon. Apparently, he hasn't answered to anything but that and Pig ever since." I said while skimming over the letter.

"What's it say?" I was really beginning to find that Draco loved prying into other people's business, but I wasn't bothered by it. I just gave him the quick rundown of the note.

"Ron's also angry with me for disappearing because it upset his mother. But the part I like most is that he congratulates me on not being found while nearly the entire Order is out looking for me." The last part came out somewhat smugly.

Draco snorted, drawing my full attention back onto him. "Not that you've done much to stay hidden. You just hide behind Vick's wards." He said, not trying to be mean, his voice full of blunt honesty.

I sniffed, feigning being offended. "Be that as it may," This drew a laugh from my companion. The sound wasn't fake our cruel this time, it was just what a laugh was supposed to be. I had to pull my eyes off of him as to not let him see my blush. I liked his laugh, found it musical, just like his voice. I decided to try and get us onto a different subject, more so for my benefit. I grabbed Ron's package and opened it in a flash. "He sent me a book." I stated, somewhat surprised that he would get me anything that involved reading, but once I glanced at the cover, my shock was dispelled and a smile graced my face. "It's about famous seekers and their signature winning moves." I said out loud.

That caught Draco's attention. "Really?" he gasped, interested. "Can I see it?" he asked, hope filling his eyes. He was just so cute!

"Yeah, sure." I said easily and handed him the book.

"Wicked!" he was so excited, he soon got me to agree to let him borrow the book in the near future as well.

It didn't take me long to open the rest of my presents too. I got some sweets from Mrs. Weasley, prank and joke items from Sirius, and some chocolate fudge from Hagrid. I wondered . . . would I be able to actually eat Hagrid's cooking now that my teeth were stronger, as well as the rest of me? I would have to find that out, now wouldn't I?

All of the letters had the same message in them, to my disappointment, but with slight variations between the senders. And said message was 'Happy birthday, what the bloody hell were you thinking? Come home now!" Even Sirius's was like that, although it conveyed more worry about me than any of the other's had. I made a mental note to write him a long, reassuring reply in the near future.

"Well, that's all of them." I told Draco as I threw the last envelope on the floor. To get more relaxed, I plopped myself onto my bed and turned to engage Draco in conversation. "So, this was our second date, right?" I asked him. He nodded the affirmative. "So, then that means we can officially be going out, riiiiight?" I said, drawing out the last word. Again, he nodded, but this time with a slight blush. "Well then, Draco, would you be so kind as to go out with me?" I asked him, my manner teasing, but my words completely serious.

He looked at me for a moment, got up from the chair he was sitting in, walked over to the bed, and plopped down beside me. "I'd like that very much." He said, whispered actually. And then he kissed me. Hard.


	8. Gifts and Lessons

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is still not mine. You have epically failed if you think I own it.**

**I'm sorry it took me so long to update . I sorta lost the plot, then I got busy with school, and thanks to a message I got asking me to continue the story, I just now managed (weeks later -.-) to pull myself out of my writers block and get on with the story.**

**Again, my apologies. Please don't rag on me about this.**

**One last thing, I only read through this chapter once as far as editing goes, so if there are any mistakes, let me know and I'll do my best to fix them to make the story better. Hopefully my next chapter will be out before too long. . . But I'm not making any promises.**

Draco and I kissed for a very long time, but I didn't know the exact length because I had lost track of the passing minutes. It wasn't such a hard thing to do thanks to me my cute little blonde's tongue down my throat which seemed much more important to me than the movement of a clock. It was around 4 a.m. by the time we broke apart from our on and off kissing spree, both of us out of breath from the intensity.

"Well, that was fun." I commented, and ducked as Draco playfully attempted to smack me upside the head.

"Just fun?" he asked me with a cute little pout. "I'm insulted!" He was mock angry, turning away from me, scooting further away from me on my bed, the place we had both ended up laying not long after we started snogging.

"Alright, it wasn't just fun, it was amazing." I admitted to him with a slight blush, but that seemed to be exactly what he wanted to hear, because he drew himself right beside me again and kissed my ear softly.

"Amazing." He echoed somewhat huskily, which sent incredibly impure thoughts through my mind once again tonight. He really needed to stop being so sexy, I thought to myself. But then again, his sex appeal was a good thing. Only it ate away at me self control very quickly . . .

"Do you want to go open the rest of your presents, mine and Vick's, I mean?" He asked me a moment later, when he decided he'd had enough of unknowingly torturing me with his very (near) presence. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, figuring I'd end up saying something lewd at the moment.

I stood up, stretching my limbs, completely aware that doing so showed off my lithe form and muscled body perfectly, and that Draco was drinking it in all the while. I smirked slightly to myself.

"What are we waiting for?" I demanded when I turned around and saw him still sitting on my bed. "You've got me all curious now, so let's go!" I told him.

"Alright already!" Draco chuckled. "I've got to get your present from my rooms anyway, so why don't we meet in Vick's study? He should be there now, right?" He asked me.

In order to accurately answer my boyfriend's question, I paused in my actions and listened intently to the noises around me, hoping to use my sensitive hearing to pinpoint my sire's location. Two steady heartbeats came from Vick's study, or at least the general area of it, and since there weren't any other rooms of interest around there, I guessed that was where they were. "Both Vick and the Professor are in the study, yes." I confirmed.

"Good," Draco said with a satisfied smirk at being right. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him. "I'll meet you there, then." He said and quickly exited my room with an eager bounce in his step. I guess he was really looking forward to giving me my present. I was somewhat embarrassed to notice that the thought of it made my heart beat a bit faster.

Shrugging, I left Draco to his own devices, and began the short walk to the study, wondering absently if Draco had memorized the route to it yet. Oh well, I figured if he didn't, I could always go find him. No harm done.

Because Professor Snape was with Vick I felt the need to knock before I barged into the study, something I hadn't felt in a while, even though I was sure the two already knew I was there. It was nearly impossible to hide from a vampire's senses. You'd need to put a silencing charm on yourself to cover the beating of your heart, your breathing, and other sounds. Other than that, you'd be fine. Theoretically, at least.

I tapped the door lightly three times, and Vick's voice sounded from behind it, inviting me inside. "Welcome, welcome!" he said excitedly, apparently as eager about this ritual gift-giving as Draco was. I found that that thought amused me, and as it were, I couldn't hide the small smirk that made its way onto my features. Vick noticed it immediately, and cocked his head to the left questioningly.

"It's nothing." I assured him, and he seemed to take my word for it, although I thought I could detect a lingering bit of suspicion in his gaze.

"Well then," Vick spoke, "I do believe we just have to wait for your little boyfriend to get here and we can get this show in the road!" Snape gave a slight snort at the mention of Draco being my boyfriend. Instead of blushing at that statement, I just felt a soothing sort of contentment at the thought of Draco being mine. _Mine._ Damn, did that have a nice ring to it.

Moments later, the click of Draco's polished dragon hide boots on the marble floor of the hallway were audible. He was nearly at the door, preparing to knock I presumed, when I pulled the door open for him. He was standing there with one hand raised, ready to strike the wood of the door, the other holding a wrapped package, and a bit of a surprised expression on his face, which he smoothed over as soon as it clicked in his mind that I'd, that _we'd_ heard him coming.

"That is kind of creepy, do you know that?" He commented nonchalantly as he stepped over the threshold.

I smiled at him feigning ignorance. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He snorted. "Of course you don't."

Vick clapped his hands together. "Well, now that we're all here, let's get started. Draco, why don't you go first?" Draco nodded, and passed his package to me.

Carefully, I began to unwrap the pristine paper covering my gift, revealing a small velvet box, similar to one that held jewelry. Curiosity peaked, I opened the lid, and inside it sat a beautiful silver pendant on a lengthy chain. The charm was a dragon wrapped around an emerald stone that matched my eyes perfectly. It was a gorgeous piece, I had to admit that right off the bat. "It's beautiful!" I exclaimed, a smile spreading across my face just for Draco. I pulled it out of the box so I could admire it more, watching it glint in the light, the faucets of the emerald sparking.

"I wanna see it." Vick chimed in and circled around his desk to where I was standing. He let out a low whistle. "Damn, that's a nice piece of work." He commented. That coming from an ungodly rich, several hundred year old vampire really meant something. "Put it on!" He said, although it was more of a demand than a request. I did so, and once again admired the pendant.

Vick turned to Snape as I was doing so and crowed, "Who knew they'd be giving each other jewelry already?"

Snape sighed, defeated, while Draco blushed bright red. "Don't listen to him." I told my boyfriend. "I absolutely love it!" I reassured him, and kissed him on the lips. It wasn't as innocent as the one I'd given him right before I left to hunt, but it wasn't nearly as heated as what we'd been getting into in my room. "Thank you." I told him softly as I pulled away.

Snape cleared his throat, gaining my attention. "I also have something for you." He said to me, and my jaw dropped in shock. "Not anything physical, mind you, just useful." He clarified. "Vick had mentioned you wished to learn the Dark Arts." He stated, and I nodded my head, liking where this was going. "My gift is to give you lessons on the subject, along with some extra potions lessons as well. Merlin knows you need them." He grumbled the last part, and relapsed into silence.

"You want to learn the Dark Arts?" Draco gaped at me, shocked. I sighed. Did he _still_ think of me as the perfect Gryffindor?

"Yep," I said simply.

"Why?" He demanded an answer.

"Because I think it'd be a good thing to know more about the magic Voldemort-" He flinched at the name, "-and his followers are going to be using against me. It should help me greatly with defending and countering its effects. Plus, it wouldn't be so bad for me to beat them at their own game, now would it?" I said the last bit with a devilish smirk.

"That's all well and good, but we're getting off topic!" Vick exclaimed, feeling left out as I'd already received my gifts from everyone but him.

"Alright, give it to me!" I demanded in a childish manner, making my way quickly over to Vick, and I began to hang on his arm like a small child. "What is it? What is it? I want it! Give it to me!" I whined in a way I knew my sire found amusing.

"Well," he began, "No Childe of mine will be inept at the human art of driving. As such, I've bought you a car." He said with a huge grin.

I gaped at him. "Are you serious?" I asked, and he nodded.

"It's black, very expensive, and sitting in the garage, waiting for you to learn how to drive it as we speak!" He said excitedly. (I'm not very good with cars, so just imagine it to be some really expensive model, or something, K?)

"What's so special about a car?" Draco asked from where he stood, not understanding why Vick and I were both so into this present.

"Not everyone can fly a broom, Draco, and Vick can't. Because of this one of his main modes of transportation is by driving a car. Also, I suspect that being able to do everything muggle is part of a cover. You'd think it would be pretty suspicious if muggles noticed beings stuck in centuries past who had no idea what modern things were or how they worked."

He considered this and found the idea plausible, so he dropped the subject. Draco glanced at the clock while stifling a yawn. "Well, I'm going to bed." He said, deeming six a.m. to be a decent enough time to retire. As soon as Draco mentioned anything related to sleep, I felt tiredness seep into my bones.

"I think I'll head to bed too." I said, suddenly incredibly tired, all my previous energy just seeming to evaporate into thin air. "You'll show me the car tomorrow, wont you Vick?" I asked, detaching myself from his arm that I'd been clinging to for a while.

He smiled. "Of course, my Childe. Now go get some rest." He said kindly.

I nodded. "See you at night." I said, and exited the room with Draco, fingering the pendant he gave me. "You know," I said, "This is one of the best birthdays I've ever had. And it's because you're here." I told him, and he blushed. "You're just too cute." I told him with a chuckle. He looked away to hide his blush.

Soon, we came to our respective rooms. "Goodnight, Harry." Draco said, and hesitated for a moment, pecking my lips before he went to his room.

"Goodnight," I echoed softly, just loud enough for him to hear as he disappeared into his chambers, and as his door shut, I turned to my own.

I didn't feel like wearing pajamas that night, so once I shut my door, I began to strip down to nothingness, shirt, trousers, boxers, and everything else falling to the floor until I was nude, save for my new necklace, which I carefully took off and placed on the night table at my bedside, and slipped under the covers. The cool sheets were heaven on my warm skin. I fell asleep, content, just as the morning sun began to creep over the horizon.

[][][][][][]

Three days after my birthday found me outside having driving lessons with Vick in my shiny new car. As with everything else I had attempted since becoming a vampire, driving seemed to come naturally. I pulled off turns with ease, I remembered the proper procedures for turning and such, and I even parallel parked perfectly on my second try. All in all, very good.

I hit the brakes gently as I finished the last course Vick had set for me, put it in park, and turned the engine off. Having done that, I pulled the keys out of the ignition and stepped out, and leaned against the door when it was closed, in a bit of a movie star pose. "So now what?" I asked Vick while twirling the keys expertly on my left index finger.

He grinned at me. "Now that you've got the basics, why don't we try you on some actual roads?"

"And what exactly are you insinuating?" I asked him in an innocent voice.

He grinned like the devil. "What I'm really getting at, is we should go into town. It's about time I introduced you to a wonderful thing called night clubbing." I raised an eyebrow. "For learning purposes of course." He continued, although he must have still read the disbelief from my face. "Night clubs are some of the best places to grab some dinner." He finally finished, though with less dramatic flair than he would have like.

"But we just fed a few days ago, why do we need to go now?" I questioned.

Vick tsk-ed at me. "Do you not remember me saying in the past that a vampire can consume more blood than necessary?" He countered my question with another. "It would be wasteful to kill on an outing such as this, but there is no harm in learning, now is there?" I had to agree.

"So," I had to clarify, "We're going clubbing . . . and I'm driving."

"That's about right."

My mind suddenly opened to more fun possibilities. "Can we bring Draco?" I asked with much hope in my voice, suddenly keen on spending the night out with Draco. Vick chuckled and nodded.

"I already went through the trouble of getting Severus to magic up some fake IDs for you and young Mr. Malfoy." My sire told me.

"We leaving now?" I asked, not expecting for us to be leaving quite so soon.

"As soon as you're ready." He confirmed.

I grinned. This was going to be some much fun! Not only would I have free reign to speed on some back roads, I got to party with Draco! Ah, yes, Draco. Our relationship had improved over the past few days, we spent hours talking, hanging out, and snogging, although we'd not gone past that as of yet. It didn't feel right to go farther at the moment. Hell, we'd only been dating for half a week.

I turned on heel once I pulled myself out of my thoughts and raced into the manor, slipping the car keys into my pocket as I went. "Draco!" I called when I was in, although I knew he probably couldn't hear me. "Draco, where are you?" I called again, focusing my senses and pinpointing the being in the house with the loudest breathing, the more human-like sounds of respiration, as we vampires' breathing was much less labored.

I found him to be in the library, so I took off with my inhuman speed, racing through the halls in a blur that I didn't think Draco would have been able to see, were he there. "Draco!" I shouted, banging the library door open, making him jump and fumble to catch the book he had nearly dropped.

"Don't bloody do that!" He hissed at me in annoyance, straitening his robes to attempt to hide that he was flustered. I completely ignored him as I strode farther into the room.

"Come on Draco, we need to put on some muggle clothes! We're going into town!" I said excitedly, dragging him out of the library, the book he had been reading temporarily forgotten on one of the many tables there.

"What?" was the only thing he said at first. "Why would we be doing that?" He finished, more articulately.

"Vick's gonna teach me how to hunt in night clubs!" I said as we reached the hallway where our rooms were. "And night clubs are fun, so you're going to come!" I told him, opened the door to his room, pushed him in, and then followed right after.

Draco was a bit pale, I noticed, once I finally calmed down a bit and took him in. "Hunting?" he asked quietly. "You're taking me _hunting_ with you?" he asked, not seeming to like that idea at all.

My gaze softened, realizing that he was a bit freaked out by the whole blood drinking thing. I knew he knew I had to drink blood to survive, but I figured he never thought he'd have to deal with that fact out right. "I was thinking it would be fun to spend a night out with you, but if you have a problem with the other part, then you don't have to come if you don't want to." I told him quietly, somewhat disappointed as I figured he would opt not to go.

He must have read what I was feeling, as Draco quickly melted to my desire. "All right, I'll go. How exactly are we getting to this town anyway?"

My face split with a shit-eating grin.

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"This is awesome!" I exclaimed as I sped down some unknown roads under Vick's direction. The speedometer was pushing ninety and we were in a sixty mph zone. I was laughing rather maniacally.

We were well on our way to a town called New Prince that, according to Vick, had some of the best clubs and nightlife around. Draco and I were also equipped with new fake IDs, courtesy of Snape, who made them for us on the request of Vick a few days prior. As it were, the Professor had opted to stay behind and work on one of his beloved potions, not that I really minded. I had a suspicion that he would kill all of the fun I intended to have.

"So how much longer?" I heard Draco say from the back seat. He looked a bit green, I noticed. But my driving wasn't that bad. Really. It was the winding roads making him sick, I swear.

I shrugged my shoulders, but Vick knew the answer and said, "About five minutes until we reach the town, about ten until we reach our actual destination." He paused, then grumbled, "But if I'd driven, we'd be there by now."

I stared at him incredulously, momentarily taking my eyes off the road. "Yeah, and you'd probably have us wrapped around a tree too. I still haven't forgotten that time you almost drove us off the road." I reminded him, turning back.

"Hey, that was only once!" he protested.

"Tch. Yeah. That I know of." I fired back.

Vick sighed dramatically, apparently figuring he wasn't going to win this battle. Looking for new entertainment, he turned to Draco. "So, have you ever spent a night on the town, muggle style?" he asked.

The platinum blonde boy snorted. "Of course not, it's beneath a pureblood such as myself."

"Oh, really?" Asked Vick, his tone of voice patronizing. "Then why are you here at the moment?"

Draco's face lit with a blush, I could see it in the rearview mirror, but it confused me. Why would he be blushing? Said question was soon answered.

Draco mumbled, "Because Harry asked me to come." After that, he was silent, but we didn't have far left to go, so it didn't bother me. Vick, however, wouldn't shut up when it came to teasing the two of us. I groaned inwardly. Was I really going to have to spend the rest of the night with this annoying prick?

Minutes later found us pulling into a parking lot outside of a club called E. Well, it probably wasn't called E, I imagined that the letter stood for something, but it was the only thing identifying this place. As we approached the entrance it was easier to make out the cursive script the E was done in, blaring at the club-goers in the form of a neon red light.

The line to get in was pretty nonexistent, meaning that this place wasn't that exclusive, so the three of us walked straight to the bouncer, Draco and I walking side by side.

"Admission's twenty." The bouncer said to us, "And I'll need to see those two's IDs." He said, gesturing at Draco and me. So we showed him them, paid him, and then we went in.

The first thing Vick did was tell me to grab one of the vacant tables around the room, and to take Draco with me while he got us some drinks. "Well, this is _wonderful_." You'd have to be an idiot not to pick up the sarcasm in my boyfriend's voice. "How can anyone find _this_-" He was referring to the packed dance floor and the blaring techno music, "-enjoyable?"

"It's a matter of opinion, Draco." I told him. "This is what muggles do. They look like they're having fun, don't they? Your tastes in entertainment are just more refined, that's all."

And there was Vick with the drinks. "Ok, you've probably figured out already that they don't serve the drinks you're used to here." A blank stare from Draco informed that he didn't. "So I just got us all plain whiskey, how's that?" As Draco and I took are glasses, it was assumed we were fine with these arrangements.

"Alright, Mr. Almighty Teacher, let's get this party started. How do you hunt in a place like this?" I asked my sire, not wasting time getting to the point. Draco just sipped his drink, sitting back and relaxing while Vick and I got down to the business of this little field trip.

"The most common way to go about it is simply seduction." He began, lowering his voice so the other patrons wouldn't hear, although if they would notice something strange about our conversation in their alcohol induced haze, it would me a miracle. "You basically just walk around until you find a decent target, normally someone who's alone, or looks like they'd easily be lured away."

"But why would they want to be lured away?" I asked with momentary innocent ignorance.

"To get into something that's not exactly appropriate to do in front of crowds." He informed bluntly. That made Draco choke on his whiskey. I chuckled.

"Exactly what is Harry going to be doing with these people?" He demanded, setting his glass down with a loud clink, eyes clouded with a hint of jealousy.

I eyed Vick with some contempt, not fond of the idea of having to seduce a complete stranger. "Yes, Vick, what exactly am I supposed to do with these people." My eyes were narrowed, not liking the idea of potentially having to get it on with someone I'd just met, especially when I had Draco.

He held his hands up in surrender. "Relax, that's just the most common method, jeeze. You don't have to bight my head off."

"So what are the other options?" I asked warily. Draco was paying rapt attention to the conversation now as well.

"Either force or the direct approach. For force, you could always drag someone off to somewhere where you won't make a scene when you feed off of them. Or you could pick up someone who's obviously here for sex, and take them back to a private room. That way there's no messing around with flirtation, and you're in a private place. No witnesses. That's the perfect scenario. That is, unless you're going to eat the witness, too." He said thoughtfully. He snapped out of his musings to finish speaking. "That's why I picked this club, you know. They do have private rooms, and not too expensive at that."

I stared at him. "So I'm supposed to pick up some horn slut and take her back, thinking she's going to get sex, and bite her? I just wanted to clarify." I sipped my drink.

"Well, you don't have to have sex with her. Although a lot of vamps do when they do this kind of thing." He grinned. "Have I ever told you we can't get STDs? Or any other kind of disease for that matter. So who we mess around with doesn't really matter."

"No. No, you never told me that." I told him somewhat dryly, but I catalogued that information away anyway, thinking that it might be good for something.

"Now that you know the theory, why don't you go give it a try?" Vick said, getting a bit more serious, slipping into his teacher mode.

"Am I the only one who has a problem with Harry picking up random whores?" Draco's voice sounded in annoyance.

Vick instantly went into tease mode. "Aww, is ickle Drakie jealous?" He cackled madly at Draco's pissed off face.

"Enough, act your age for once!" I snapped at Vick, sliding my hand into Draco's. "I won't kiss the person, or do anything else besides feed on them." I leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "Besides, the only one I like is _you_." He blushed but seemed reassured by my simple words.

"Now, how about I get this over with, hmm?" I asked my boyfriend, and he just nodded, not as sullen as he was before. "Now," I turned back to Vick. "How do I tell who wants to be jumped?" I asked, being blunt again.

"Use your nose." He replied. "You smell that tangy scent?" I nodded. "That's arousal. Now follow it." He commanded me.

Standing up, I slid the rest of my nearly forgotten drink over to Draco, and walked out towards the dance floor, following my nose. Vick went to get a room; he would come to find me when he was done.

It didn't take long to find a scantily dressed woman in her early twenties who reeked of arousal. I slid through the surrounding humans around her, until I was swaying to the music right beside her. Of course, she noticed me immediately.

"Hey there." She said, in what she thought was a sexy voice, and probably was to any straight male. I, however, was more focused on how creepy it was to have a woman flirting with me, although I tried not to let my thoughts show on my face.

"Hey yourself." I said back, and allowed a winning smile to cross my face. "Look, I'm pretty sure we both didn't come here for the company." I said, gesturing around us at the people dancing. She stopped dancing, and so did I.

"Oh?" she asked, "What exactly are we here for then?" she smirked, her arousal all the more prominent, I knew she would give in to my any request.

I leaned in closer to her and whispered, "How about we head to the back," she knew I was talking about the private rooms, "And explore what we're here for there."

"I think I'd like that." Her smile was coy now. The only thoughts running through my mind was what a dirty little slut she was. And that she'd probably be pretty good at working a corner.

"Ladies first," I said, motioning her onward, hoping my gentlemanly attitude would earn me further bonus points with her that I admitted to myself I probably didn't need.

As we reached the edge of the dance floor, Vick reached us. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" he asked, twirling the room key around his right index finger. "You picked up a nice one, my friend." He said to me, and then turned to my 'date'. "You wouldn't mind if I joined the two of you, would you? I did pay for the room, after all." He said, much more flirtatiously than I had.

The woman, whose name I didn't even know, seemed a bit unsure at this turn of events, so she turned to me in question. "Vick's my best friend. He'll show you a good time as well." I promised, laying it on a bit thick in my opinion.

She shrugged. "Alright." She agreed, grabbed the key, saw it was for room 14, and led the way.

I lagged back to talk to Vick. "Any reason you decided to make this a threesome?" I asked with amusement.

"I just want to make sure you get on ok, Childe." He said. "Plus, you picked a damn nice one."

We reached the room and the woman jumped on the bed. "I'm Jenny, by the way." She said, already pulling at her top. Now I wasn't an expert, but I was pretty sure she wasn't wearing anything under said top, and I had no desire to be flashed by girl boobs. So I acted quickly.

I was on the bed in a flash, but no inhumanly quick, and I grabbed her arms and pulled them away from her top. "Like to play rough, do ya?" She asked me with a growl, initiating what she believed to be foreplay. I didn't answer, I just bit down on her jugular.

I gave her pleasure as I fed from her, so she moaned. It was very sensual, and it kind of freaked me out. I knew I wanted to pull away at the sound, but I drank a few more mouthfuls of her sweet crimson life. After a few moments, I pulled away, pausing only to lick the wound so it would heal.

"_What_ was that?" she asked in a pleasured daze. And if she didn't know, then hell, I figured I didn't need to tamper with her memories of this event.

I turned to Vick now that I was done here. "We going now? I'm done here." I informed him, expecting him to open the door and lead me out.

"You go on ahead." He told me, his eyes a bit slyer than usual.

"But aren't we leaving now?" I asked in a bit of confusion, getting off of the bed.

"You are, but I'm not." He smirked. "I'm not going to waste this perfectly good room and woman." I could take a hint. I knew what he was getting at. And I just stared at him for a moment.

"Well, you have fun with her then." I said pulling the door open, more eager to get back to Draco than worry about Vick's nefarious activities.

"Meet back at the car in two hours." He said just before the door clicked shut. I tapped it two times from the outside so he would know I'd heard him. And then I went to go find my boyfriend, plans already forming in my mind to ditch this club and go somewhere else the aristocratic Draco would enjoy.


	9. Ice and Letters

**Disclaimer: *sigh* Do we really have to go through this again?**

**THIS HAS NOT BEEN EDITED, so now you know why there'll probably be a lot of mistakes. I hadn't been planning to update, but I was inspired by an author whose story I've been following, and who hadn't updated in months, but did a few days ago. It made me happy. But whatever, it works in your favor, doesn't it?**

**So, give me reviews. Tell me how I'm doing. Is this awesome? Does it suck? Do you hate me for taking forever to update? I don't know unless you tell me.**

**As for randomness . . . today is the wonderful day where I discovered I live strawberry pop tarts :D**

**Now, please, do enjoy ^^ or not, whatever floats your metaphorical boat. And I'll do you the favor of shutting up now.**

I re-entered the main club area to see Draco sulking back at the table where I left him, the two glasses of whiskey completely empty. _And I haven't even been gone that long._ I chuckled at that thought while hoping that he could hold his alcohol, or else we wouldn't be able to do much tonight.

I was about ten feet away when he saw me. His attention was instantly rapt on me, his slumped posture straitening. "Did ya miss me?" I asked when I stood right beside him.

He just scowled. "What took you so long?" he demanded. It was sweet, really. He was playing the perfect 'jealous girlfriend' part. He would kill me if he ever knew I thought that about him, that was for sure.

"Draco, I've only been gone for fifteen minutes. Now we can go." I said, sitting down beside him and catching his hand in my own, smiling at him.

He looked around. "If we're leaving, then where's Vick?" he asked.

I sighed. "He, apparently, is a firm believer in the practice of One Night Stands. He said to meet him back at the car in two hours. So until then, we can do whatever we want, and I believe that includes going somewhere else."

I had to admit, his face did look a bit funny when it wore a gob smacked expression. Apparently purebloods like him were firmly schooled that having sex with strangers was a bad thing. "Vick's really into that kind of thing?" he almost whispered.

"I guess." I said as I shrugged. "I didn't know till now either." I continued incredulously, "I'm just amazed that a three hundred twenty-five year old man can still get it up." I widened my eyes for effect.

That got a laugh out of Draco. "He's really that old?" he asked me when is chuckles subsided. I nodded the affirmative.

"You said we could get out of here?" he asked me then, his expression back to normal, he seemed to have dismissed Vick's less than proper behavior. I nodded once again. "Great, then let's go!" It was easy to read from his tone of voice that he'd been waiting for this moment since we got here.

Still holding my hand, Draco practically dragged me to and out the door into the fresh air of the night. "Much better," he sighed in content, "Although it would be better still if I still couldn't hear that infernal thing muggles call music!"

"All in due time, Draco, all in due time." I said with a fake eerie voice, pulling my hand from his grip so I could slide my arm around his waist. "So, any ideas where you want to go?" I asked him, pulling him close so our hips were touching as we aimlessly began to walk away from the club.

"I've no idea." He said after shooting me a look. "I don't have the slightest clue what muggles do for fun."

"Then want me to show you?" I asked him. He looked unsure, but agreed within moments, conceding with a nod. "Ok then, our choices of recreation are a bit limited since it's almost two A.M., but I'm sure we can find something that's open 24 hours." I told him with a grin. "This is a date, you know." I informed him as well.

"Oh really?" he replied, a faint flush on his cheeks. "And what if I object to that idea?" he was playing around.

"Well then," I said, my voice going husky and I stopped walking. "I'd just have to convince you otherwise, now wouldn't I?" When I finished speaking, I was very close to his lips, a mere inch away. So close I could feel Draco's breath on my face, reminding me of warm velvet. He smelled delicious too. He smelled like Draco.

Draco crushed our lips together shortly after I finished speaking, and our tongues met. His put up a fair fight, I'll admit, but he was not match for mine, what with all it's vampiric enhancement and such. I controlled the kiss, pulling our bodies ever closer until our fronts were right up against each other. After a bit, I pulled away, slowly, softening the kiss to something chaster before I pulled away completely.

"We were going on a date?" I reminded him in the form of a question, my lips still ghosting over his.

"Yeah, we were, weren't we?" he countered with another question.

I smiled and drew away from him, entwining one of my hands with one of his, our arms linked as well "Then why don't we get started? Follow me." I told him, and we began walking again. I opened my senses to the world around us, and used them to lead me to places that smelled of food and activity. That's where the attractions would be.

Draco kept throwing sidelong glances at me as we walked. After a few minutes of it, I finally confronted him about it with a simple word. "What?"

"Nothing." He said quickly, turning back away, a blush on his face.

"No, what is it?" I asked again, but quickly followed up with, "Hold that thought, we need to find a place to go." I told him, as we had finally reached some restaurants and other attractions. Looking around, I spied a coffee house that was still open, so I opted to go there. "Hungry, Draco?" I asked.

"Kind of. I could go for some food."

"Alright then." My face wore a big smile as we entered the small café, a bell jingling at our entrance, earning a strange look from Draco. "It's normal for a muggle establishment." I explained. "It lets the people working there know when customers arrive as they can't use wards for that like wizards do."

He nodded. "Makes sense." Was all he said. "So, what do muggles eat in a place like this?"

"Well, coffee, for one thing." At his blank look, I went on. "It's a very common muggle drink." He still wasn't very responsive. I ran a hand though my longish hair in response, an amused smile on my face. "Look, how about I just order for you? I'm pretty sure I've got a decent idea of what you like by now."

"Fine." He said, "surprise me." And then he went to go grab us a table, not that it was really necessary because there were only three other people in here, a heterosexual couple, and a guy by himself, making use of the free Wi-Fi.

I walked up to the cashier, my mind already set on what I was going to order. It was a young woman behind the counter, probably in her late twenties, and she greeted me with a smile and the question of, "What can I get for you tonight?" Even though it was technically morning.

"I'll have a small vanilla cappuccino, a small vanilla coffee, a chocolate muffin, and an apple cinnamon muffin." I had ordered things that I figured Draco and I both would like so we could share and have a little of each. The total came out to be around nine dollars, which I paid easily as Vick had shared his fortunes with me, allowing me access to nearly all of his accounts as I would be inheriting them all anyways someday. Not that I really needed it, already having the Potter fortune.

When everything was ready, I walked with it over to the small counter where I proceeded to add some cream and a few (four) packets of sugar to the vanilla coffee. That done, I walked back over to my waiting boyfriend.

I slid the tray of food and drinks in front of Draco, taking a seat opposite him. "Go on, give it a try. Watch with the drinks, though." I warned him. "They're really hot."

He heeded my warning and went for one of the muffins first, grabbing the chocolate one because its flavor was obvious. "What's that one?" he asked me as he carefully pulled the wrapper off.

"Apple cinnamon." I answered as I reached over to grab it. "I thought you'd like both flavors. You can have some of this one, if you like." I informed him, discarding the wrapper on my muffin as well and taking a bite.

Draco shifted a bit, placing his muffin back down on a napkin. "Well, wouldn't it be easier to share them if you were beside me and not . . . over there." He finished somewhat lamely.

I found myself smiling at his pathetic excuse for having me sit by him, but I moved anyway, sliding into the booth beside the blonde, scooting over until our hips were touching. "Is this better?" I asked him, still smiling. He nodded that slight blush on his cheeks again. I loved it when he flushed like that. It was just too cute. I found that my smile widened.

He picked up his muffin again, and I spoke. "So, if we're going to share . . ." I trailed off, then leaned over and took a bite of his muffin while it was still in his hands, my teeth lightly grazing his pale hand. I'd never thought a muffin tasted so good.

I felt him shiver from that simple touch, but I had to admit, that little bit of sensual contact got to me too. "Yummy." Was all I said to him, licking my lips for the last of the crumbs.

Draco's eyes were on my mouth after that, I could see how his silver-gray orbs were tracing the curves of my lips. Before I knew it, he leaned over and kissed me. He pulled away just as soon, his face hot and red.

"I can't believe I just did that in a _public_ place!" he gasped out, glancing around him. I frowned at him for a moment, until it clicked for me why Draco Malfoy, the prince of Slytherin who had no care in the world for what others thought about his actions, would be so averse to kissing a guy in public. Because homosexuality was a bit taboo in the wizarding world, even more so for purebloods, I guessed, considering how important it was that their lines continued.

There were so few wizards compared to muggles, the majority of wizarding kind was expected to marry to keep the lines of magic alive. And as it were, Malfoys did _not_ do taboo.

I sighed. "Don't worry about it Draco." I told him, "No one saw. And besides, being gay in the muggle world is more accepted as a whole than it is in the wizarding world." I informed him as he likely wasn't aware of that particular information because of his lack of education about muggles. "So kissing in public here, especially with so few people around . . ." I trailed off a bit huskily, "Is perfectly fine." I finished.

He seemed to consider this for a moment, and he shrugged, apparently deciding that he didn't care what muggles thought about him, or at least that's what I gathered from looking at his face. And I was right about my assumption: he leaned in and kissed me again, this time less innocent than before. I kissed him back, our muffins and drinks sitting forgotten on the table.

After a minute, we pulled apart, well, I did, anyway. My boyfriend looked at me questioningly. "Just because muggles are more accepting, doesn't mean it's polite to go into a full blown make-out session in public." I told him with an amused smile. "Now, I do believe your cappuccino is cool enough to drink." My coffee was too.

I watched Draco's expression as he tried his drink. At first, he was a bit suspicious of the liquid, but he soon morphed into pleasantly surprised once he actually tasted it. "Not bad," was all he said, not willing to give a muggle drink any more praise that that. I smiled.

"Shut up and eat your muffin." I said, playfully shoving him as I picked up my own partially eaten one.

We began eating our food in comfortable silence, switching muffins whenever one of us so desired. We shared drinks, too. As we sat there, I began thinking.

I was amazed, looking back, that I had become this close to Draco in such a short time after we had been enemies for five years. It was strange, really, how every time I looked at him, I felt my heart beat a bit faster.

I was staring at him now, our muffins gone, only our drinks left. Draco reached out with a pale hand and grasped the cup, intent on drinking what little was left in it. I watched as he downed it in one go, his Adams apple bobbing as he swallowed.

He finally noticed my intent gaze. "What?" was the only thing he asked, his brow raised questioningly.

"Nothing," I replied easily. I surveyed the empty trash now in front of us. "Well, as we're done here, why don't we see if we can't find something else to do?" I looked at Draco after I made the suggestion. The blonde nodded, so I stood up, gathered the garbage, and dumped it in a bin on our way out.

"Ok," I said, surveying the street we were on, "Something over that way," I pointed to the east, "Smells like ice, so I'm betting there's and ice rink there." I told him, noticing his once again blank look when referenced with muggle recreation. "It's basically a place where the floor is made of ice. You put on these special shoes called skates and then you kind of glide around on the ice." I explained.

"That doesn't sound nearly as bad as the night club was, so I'll give it a shot." Draco said, so he started walking in the direction I'd given. "And what makes you think this ice rink is open this late?" he asked me as we walked.

"I also smell people coming from there too, and a decent bit of them. So I'm guessing they're having some kind of special tonight, or something. And hell, even if it were closed, we could always break in and enjoy it all to ourselves." I said the last part with a devious smirk.

"You know what? I'm really liking this side of you." Draco said, the classic Slytherin smirk plastered on his face. "The Golden Boy from last year would've never suggested breaking and entering, let alone be serious about it. It's actually kind of hot." He said, eyes still narrowed and lips still quirked.

"And you know what, Draco? Your saying I'm hot is sexy too." I told him, batting my eyes at him playfully.

He laughed. "Of course it is, everyone loves a compliment." He said, sliding himself closer to me and sliding his arm around my waste, and I did the same. It just felt right how we linked together like that, I noted, and from the expression on my boyfriend's face, he thought the same.

"We're nearly there." I told him after a bit of walking in comfortable silence. The outside of the building wasn't exactly a sight to behold. It was painted a washed out white and was pealing in random sections nearly everywhere, several of the windows were cracked and boarded, and the double doors leading in were slightly rusty.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "_This_ is supposed to be recreation?" he gestured toward the building in contempt.

"I never said it would be pretty." I countered. "It looks like it's open." And I drug him towards the door with me.

We got in and there was a counter waiting for customers to buy their passes. I disentangled myself from Draco and went to talk with the woman waiting there. It was nearing 2:30 am at the moment, and it looked like she was struggling to keep her drooping eyes open. "Can I help you?" she asked with a yawn.

"Yes, the both of us would like to skate. We'll be needing rental skates as well." I told her politely.

She gave us our total and I paid her. She handed me two tickets to get out skates and directed us to the counter where we would get them.

It wasn't long before Draco and I got our skates and we sat on one of the benches scattered along the edge of the rink to put them on.

"You're actually supposed to be able to get around on these little blades?" Draco asked skeptically as he laced his up.

I nodded. "Just look at all of them." I gestured out at the rink where about twenty, give or take, other people were already having a good time flying on the ice. "You done yet?" I asked somewhat impatiently when I was ready to go.

"Nearly," Was my blonde's reply as he knotted the last skate. "Alright, let's go." He said and attempted to stand. He gasped as he wobbled and nearly fell because he wasn't used to wearing skates. I was already standing and caught him before he went down.

"Careful," I warned, my eyes sparkling, "We wouldn't want anything to happen to that pretty face of yours, now would we?" I asked him playfully, and just then as I glanced at him, I was momentarily stunned by how good the rest of his body looked in the muggle clothes he was wearing. "And I don't think I'd want anything to happen to the pretty rest of you either." I said and snickered at the blush on his face.

He regained his Malfoyish composure too soon, or at least, such was true in my opinion. "So you're saying I'm pretty?" he asked with a slight smirk, trying to call me out and get me flustered.

"Why, yes, yes I am." I told him, my expression the same as his, and I leaned the small distance between us and planted a sweet kiss on the corner of his mouth. "And believe me, it's true." I whispered in his ear, my cool breath making him shiver. "Now come on," I said, pulling back a bit and tugging on one of his arms, "We came here to skate, didn't we?"

Draco wobbled his way over to the rink, with me supporting him. My balance was perfect because I was a vampire, obviously, and I caught Draco sending me little envious glances. He thought his lack of grace was unseemly for a Malfoy. Typical.

We quickly reached the ice. "Come on, it'll be easier once you get moving." I encouraged the blond.

"Easy for you to say." He muttered back mutinously, probably wondering why the hell he let me talk him into this in the first place. I rolled my eyes, but he didn't see. All the better.

I began to slowly propel myself forward on my skates, dragging Draco along with me. He gasped as he almost fell flat on his face, but I caught him. "Let's take it slow." I finally said, kind of worried for my boyfriend's safety, for real this time.

"Works for me." He said curtly, trying his hardest not to wobble.

"Let's try something." I said after a moment, having had an idea. I turned myself around so I'd be skating backwards, and gave it a quick try to make sure I could. It was cake. I returned to Draco, still facing backwards so I was looking straight at him. "Grab my hands." I told him. He looked at me warily, and slowly, he slid his hands into mine. "Perfect." I smiled.

I began to move backwards, pulling Draco with me. He was starting to get his bearings and was less shaky on his feet. "This isn't so bad." He said after two laps around the rink.

I chuckled. "Told you." I said teasingly. He stuck his tongue out at me in a childish gesture. I couldn't help myself. My feet stopped moving and I pulled him in for a crushing kiss, my tongue invading his mouth instantly as it was already open and we continued to slide along the ice slowly.

He was surprised at first, but soon he was kissing back, not wanting to lose our little fight for dominance. Our bodies slid closer on the ice until our fronts were touching. We kept kissing until we heard giggling glide past us. Draco pulled away from me, embarrassed, just in time to watch two girls skate past us, staring at us, laughing. Although it wasn't a mean laugh, I had suspicions they were enjoying our PDA.

I shook my head at them, a slight smile on my lips. "Come on, let's skate."

It took a few more laps around the rink before Draco was comfortable with me skating beside him instead of in front of him. It took even longer before he was skating on his own, but I thought he was doing pretty good seeing as he'd never done anything like this before, let alone heard of it.

All too soon, it was time for us to be going. It was about ten till four, and we still had the walk back to the car. We returned out skates promptly and began our little trek.

"That wasn't so bad." Draco said, once again, after a few minutes of comfortable silence. "Actually, it was pretty enjoyable."

I glanced at him. "Do my ears deceive me, or did the Great Draco Malfoy just say something muggle 'wasn't so bad'?"

He glared at me. "Oh, sod off, will you?" he spat back, but I knew he was only half serious. "Actually," he continued on, "It was only bearable because you were there."

I grinned. "I'm flattered." I said, and bowed to him, "Now, good sir, your carriage awaits." We were near the car and I felt like being overly dramatic, so I was.

It was Draco's turn to roll his eyes at me. "Oh, come on." He grabbed my arm.

Vick was already at the car when we got there, leaning against it and smoking a cigarette. "Really?" I asked him, eyebrow raised.

He shrugged. "It doesn't hurt vamps, and we can't get addicted to anything, so it doesn't really matter. Just nice to have a vice once in a while. I trust you two had fun?" he asked.

Draco and I glanced at each other. "Yes," the blonde boy answered. "Very much so. Now are we going home or what? I'm bloody tired." He complained.

"Then get in the damn car." I told him, dragging him around to one of the back doors and shoving him in, sliding in behind him. Vick got in the front, not questioning my abandonment of shotgun, and started up the car after I passed him my keys. We were zooming toward home within seconds.

When Draco and I were situated, I grabbed my boyfriend and pulled him down so his head was in my lap. "Harry, what are you doing?" he demanded, blushing and flustered.

"You said you were tired, so go ahead and sleep." I said to him. "I doubt you have any complaints with that?" it was a question, but he stayed silent, opting to stare into my eyes for a bit instead.

"Alright," he said after a while, "But first . . ." he trailed off, leaning up so he was close to my face. His lips connected with my own quickly, pulled away, and then connected again for a deeper kiss. It only lasted a few seconds before he was laying back down, his head resting comfortably on my thighs. "Thanks." Was the last thing he said before his breathing evened out and I knew he was asleep.

I smiled at him, moving my hand to run it through his soft blond hair. "No problem, Draco." I said quietly to his sleeping form.

I was being so tender to him . . . was it possible that I was starting to fall in love with him? We'd only been dating for just over three days. But maybe that's all things needed to get started. The catalyst was in action, now I figured I just had to wait and see where things would take us.

[][][][][][]

The next few days passed in a flurry of classes with Vick, Snape, and stolen moments with my beautiful blonde, but if found I couldn't put off writing the letters I'd been procrastinating on. And so here I was, seated at my desk, surrounded by blank parchment, quills, and ink wells that seemed to be mocking my inability to form the necessary letters.

I sighed and let my head fall into my hands. I figured I might as well start with Sirius, whom I'm pretty sure I was driving mad, well, _madder_, with worry about me. Raising my head, I smoothed my lengthening hair back behind my ears and set to work.

_Dear Sirius, _

_How have you been? Yeah, I know I've been ignoring your (and everybody else's) letters, but its kind of annoying that you guys keep lecturing me and telling me the same things over and over again. Isn't it enough when I tell you that I'm fine and having fun here? Does what I want not really matter?_

_But I guess you'll be happy to know that I plan on going to the Weasley's a week before school starts. I'll see you there, won't I? And speaking of the Weasley's, I have to owl them next to see if this arrangement will be acceptable._

_Your godson,_

_ Harry_

I paused to look over the letter I'd just penned. It was short, but to the point, and since I had three more letters to write, I didn't really want this endeavor to take forever. It was acceptable, so, true to what I'd written, I began on the letter to ask if I could spend a week at the Weasley residence.

_Dear Mrs. Weasley,_

_I know you'd originally planned for me to spend half the summer with you and your family, but since I'm enjoying my current residence, that isn't going to happen. But I find myself in need of a place to stay the week before school starts and I was wondering if I could stay with you?_

_Love,_

_Harry_

Once again, it was acceptable. So I moved on.

_Dear Ron,_

_Hey, how have you been? I' living it up at the moment, to tell you the truth, so I'm hoping your summer's been pretty good too. And before you ask, I'm not telling you where I am or who I'm with. You could almost say that this place is like a refuge, and nobody here really wants their whereabouts to be know._

_You'll be horrified to know that I've actually been doing my summer homework too, in fact, I've got it all done already. And you probably haven't even started yours, have you? Oh well. Write back soon, won't you, as long as you don't nag me about taking off?_

_Your friend, _

_Harry_

And finally,

_Dear Hermione,_

_I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you, Herms, but I just couldn't deal with all lectures. Honestly, I still can't, so spare me, alright? I'm doing fine, and I've got friends here who I can count on, so don't worry. _

_I bet you've already got your school work done, don't you? You'll be surprised to hear that I'm finished too. You're starting to rub off on me, you know that?_

_I'll probably be seeing you in a couple of weeks too. I plan on spending the last week before school at Ron's house, and didn't you say you'd be there two weeks before the new term? I'm looking forward to seeing you._

_Sincerely,_

_ Harry_

I sighed in relief, glad to be done with that, and attempted to shake out the cramp in my hand. I quickly rolled up the parchments and sealed them, and now all I needed to do was send them. I frowned. Id didn't think Hedwig could handle all four letters at once, and I wanted to get them out as soon as possible. I shrugged, figuring I'd just ask Vick if I could borrow his owl.

That decided, I grabbed the parchments and set off, my destination Vick. As I walked, I spread my senses throughout the mansion, and found my sire to be in the library, surprisingly without company. He'd taken to entertaining either Snape or Draco during his free time, partly to be a polite host, and partly because he was bored. His reasoning didn't really matter to me.

Left, right, then left again, through the maze of halls I walked until the ornate oak door of the library came into my view. Not bothering to knock, I waltzed right in, and Vick, who was intent on the tome in his hand, didn't look up, although I knew he was acutely aware of my presence.

"Can I borrow Eremis?" I asked bluntly, referring to his elegant eagle owl he kept in his own private owlery, along with Hedwig during her stay.

A nod was my reply. I turned on heel and left the room, softly shutting the door behind me so I didn't disturb the man further.

I set off in the direction of the tower owlery, and both birds where there when I arrived. I went to Hedwig first. "Hey there, girl." I crooned lovingly, and slipped her two owl treats, which she gobbled up appreciatively, and nipped my fingers gently in thanks. I chuckled, "Would you mind taking these letters to Sirius and Hermione?"

She stuck out her leg for me to tie the parchments on. As soon as they were secure, she took flight and soared out the giant arched window entrance that was spelled to keep the cold, gusty winds, and rain out. I followed her to the window and watched her fly away with powerful beats of her wings until she was out of sight.

Having wasted enough time, I turned toward Eremis, and after he accepted my treats, I sent him on his way with the two Weasleys' letters.


	10. Goodbyes and the Weasleys

**DISCLAIMER: Is this really still necessary? Come on, we all know that if I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be sitting around writing crappy fics like this XD**

**Again, I'm sorry about taking forever to update . But since summer vacations is right around the corner for me, I'm hoping I'm going to have a lot more time to work on this. I'm also suffering from a bit of block for the plot. I'm not completely sure what Harry's going to do when he gets back to Hogwarts, so please bear with me. As of now, I have no intention of abandoning this fic.**

Time flew by at a rapid pace once I'd sent off the letters. I'd immersed myself in my life, and my relationships with the people I was currently living with increased by leaps and bounds. Snape and I were now on practically friendly terms. Well, as friendly as we could get as student and professor who used to hate each other so much, nearly to the extent of whishing death upon the other. But once you got past that, it wasn't so bad. Really.

Draco and I were nearly inseparable now, especially since I would be returning to the Weasley's in two day's time. He even followed me to my lessons, going so far as to assist me with some complicated potions work that required a partner. This was all supervised by Snape, of course. He gave me pointers on how to correct things, just little things, like the proper consistency to crush wormwood into. You didn't want a fine powder, but you didn't want chunks either, you had to find a happy medium, or so Draco told me. And these little details helped make my potions perfect. Needless to say, my proficiency in this particular subject increased dramatically, as well as my Dark Arts, thanks to Snape's tutoring. I'd never thought I'd owe the man this much, but in a strange way I couldn't yet explain, I was sort of glad I did.

Vick and I, if it were possible, grew closer as well. He told me about his life in seventeenth century England before he was turned. Back then, he said, he was simply the son of a middle class merchant until he was out wandering the night, whoring (go figure) the hours away. It was then that he encountered his sire, a man named Richard, who turned him and passed along the family fortune, which included the manor house we were currently living in. It was a very interesting story, if a bit long.

As for my friends from school, and Sirius, and a few others, they'd finally accepted, although the majority still did not agree with, my choice to take off this summer. However, they'd stopped nagging me about it and our conversations turned back to normal, mundane topics. As for Mrs. Weasley, she had replied to my first letter with much vigor, welcoming me to stay at the Burrow whenever I liked, and that I should come as soon as I wanted, I didn't have to wait for the last week of vacation. Of course, I politely informed her I wasn't about to have a change of plans.

[][][][][][]

It was the night before the day I was to leave. Actually, we would all be leaving tomorrow, to go our separate ways. I would be off to the Burrow, Vick to Hogwarts, Snape as well, and Draco was to hole up in the Leaky Cauldron, forced to be a recluse there so he wouldn't be found, although Snape planned to have his blonde godson to the school early as soon as he could discuss the matter with Dumbledore.

None of us were particularly happy to go and get back to our previous lives without the others, but we would have to suffer through it. Draco and I were the ones having the most difficulty adjusting to the idea of not living together anymore, not being able to spend every waking moment together.

So there we were, both huddled in my room, laying side by side on my bed, flat on our backs, the sides of our bodies touching. We lay in silence for a long time, just thinking our respective thoughts, brooding I guess you could call it.

"I'm going to miss you." I was the one who broke the silence.

Draco turned to look at me. "Me too." He simply said, and readjusted himself so that his head was resting on my shoulder. I took comfort from him. "But we can write each other, can't we?" he asked, his voice hopeful.

"Yeah." I said after a moment's thought. "But if we don't want to risk getting found out, we can't sign our names, and we probably shouldn't use our initials either. They're kind of recognizable."

He moved again, and propped himself up on his elbow. "I've got an idea. We should call you Dark, because of your hair . . ." He trailed off with a smirk, running his hands through my long black locks, which just barely reached my shoulders. I could put it in a pony tail now if I wanted, but I normally just left it down. I liked it better that way, and so did Draco.

I mirrored his movements. "Then it's only right to call you Light, then, don't you think?" I shot back, and watched him scowl, but it soon melted away.

"We'll be like opposites." He said, and I knew he was referring to our families and magical preferences, well, at least, previous ones.

I snorted lightly. "Opposites of our former selves. I'm not exactly a light wizard anymore, or haven't you noticed?" my voice held sarcasm, but it was hardly biting.

"So then our aliases are the opposites of who we used to be, but we aren't quite them anymore." He said, thoughtful.

"We're not black and white anymore, we're simply shades of gray." I agreed, sliding my elbow out from under me and plopping back down onto the bed, pulling Draco with me. "Since when did our conversations get so deep?" I wondered aloud, only half expecting an answer.

Draco was silent for a few moments. "Why wouldn't they be deep? Or some of them, at least. I've never had anyone else I could talk to about things like this. No one would understand. Everything's so straight forward with everyone else, there's no room for middle ground." He finally said, and I agreed with his every word.

"Ron would be horrified with the idea of not being completely light." I said.

Draco turned to me. "And is his opinion going to tell you how to live your life?" he asked, seriously.

"It might influence me a little, but it won't rule me. Nobody rules me." I said.

"I don't want anybody to rule me either. That's why I'm here." We trailed back into silence after that, and since it was really late, Draco drifted off to sleep before long. We'd been trying to get back on a day schedule for the past few days so we wouldn't be completely turned around when we went back to the outside world, so it was around two a.m. I was having more trouble adjusting than Draco, so I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep for a while. I just watched him. I took in how peaceful and beautiful his face looked when there was no tension of wakefulness covering it. He was gorgeous, especially with that one little lock of hair that always fell down in his eyes, even when he had it all slicked back.

His breathing was rhythmic and peaceful, and he seemed perfectly content. I wondered for a moment if he was dreaming something nice, or if he was just in a deep sleep. And somewhere in the middle of pondering this, I fell asleep too, with Draco in my arms, both of us on top of the covers.

[][][][][][]

It was a half an hour until noon now, just a short thirty minutes until we parted ways. It was also a time to say final goodbyes because the packing had been done yesterday, so there was no work to be worried about. I was walking around the grounds with my blonde boyfriend one last time, chatting lightly inside the beautiful maze of hedges and shrubs.

"So I guess this is it." Draco said after a while, his gloom finally breaking through our light chatter.

My mood fell a little too. "It won't be for long." I assured him, pulling him closer, and pecking his lips with my own. "And we'll write to each other every day, won't we?" I asked the question even though I already knew the answer. He nodded.

"But it won't be the same!" he complained, pulling away from me, and turning his back toward me, and he continued. "I won't be able to see you every day, I won't get to touch your or kiss you," he whirled around and looked me straight in the eye, "and when we get to school, we'll have to sneak around to be together! It would be dangerous for both of us if we were found out, and we won't be able to sleep in the same bed, or-or—or. . ." he trailed off, distraught, running his hand through, and ruining, his perfectly gelled hair.

I pulled him back to me. "These things won't last forever." I mumbled into his hair. "Lets not dwell on this right now, I just want to enjoy the last bit of time I have with you." I mumbled into his sweet smelling locks, and pulled his lips up to mine for a crushing kiss.

Our tongue's danced, and our chests pressed together as we struggled to get closer. I really didn't need the air, but Draco was gasping for breath, and I'll admit, the intensity and my breathing picking up too. If this kept going on much longer, I knew I'd start to get excited in ways that would be inconvenient at the moment. Before we could get too far, though, I heard Vick calling me, signaling the time for our departure.

Sighing, I pulled back reluctantly, savoring the taste of Draco on my tongue. "Time to go." I said softly to him, but I made no attempt to move, and neither did he.

We stared into each other's eyes for a long while, ignoring the minutes ticking slowly by. We were searching each other, gauging the other, looking for something particular in the other's eyes, and I found what I was looking forward. Gathering my courage, I took a deep breath, and said it. "Draco, I love you." The words were out there and I couldn't take them back.

He looked stunned for a moment, like that had been the last thing he'd expected, but then, as I'd predicted, his lips morphed into a soft smile. "I love you, too, Harry, and I mean it. I've never loved anyone before . . ." He trailed off, and pressed his lips chastely to mine.

Out kiss lasted for a while before I pulled away with a sigh both content and sad. "We really should be going." I mumbled around my love's lips, and then pulled away completely. "We're going to be very late." I said and took his hand, and somehow that gesture portrayed finality, and we both knew we couldn't put off our impending separation any longer.

"Then let's get this over with before I decided to change my mind and kidnap you and take you with me." Draco said as we walked toward the front of the house. The thing was, I knew he wasn't kidding. It made me smile, just a little, and I gripped his hand tightly as we walked side by side.

"It's about time!" Vick exclaimed when we got there. My car was parked close to them too because I'd decided to drive to the Burrow because that would be untraceable, unlike the other three who would be flooing. I didn't want any chance of being traced back to this safe haven.

"Yeah, yeah, take a chill pill." I said as we neared the two elder vampires, the oldest of who had already packed my stuff in the boot.

"You best be going," he said, "You're already running late." His eyes darted between me and Draco.

I released Draco just for a moment so I could hug my sire. "I'll see you in a week." I mumbled into his shoulder, and it struck me with a pang that I was really going to miss this man who was now family to me, but at the same time, I was happy to be leaving to go see my other family. He hugged me back, and released me without saying anything, but with a kind smile on his face.

I looked to Snape next, and our goodbye simply consisted of nods and a "See you at school, Professor."

Lastly was Draco. I pulled him into a bone crushing hug while the others watched, and caught his lips in a passionate and somewhat desperate kiss, which tapered off into a quick succession of ravenous chaste pecks. Surprisingly, Snape didn't make any side remarks about our contact, and all too soon we released each other. "Bye." I whispered in his ear.

"Goodbye," he replied, and his words rang with a daunting finality that almost made me shiver, and although our eyes were mirrors of liquid sadness, they reflected love too, and with that, we parted.

I stalked over to my car, opened the door and slid gracefully in, turned the key in the ignition, and sped off, down the winding forest road toward the highway, and never looked back once and momentary depression and an insane longing for where I'd just left consumed me.

[][][][][][]

I drove for hours until I was anywhere near my destination. I was getting close to the Burrow; I knew because I was driving the long, straight stretches of land in the middle of nowhere before the swamp lands surrounding the Burrow. Needless to say, I was also exceeding the speed limit by a very large amount, not that I really cared.

I had Buckcherry playing, their album 15 set to repeat every time it was finished. The song currently playing was Next 2 You, and I felt compelled to sing along, and I had the lyrics memorized. My voice was melodious, and, if I do say so myself, I did an even better job than the lead singer did. Of course, I couldn't have pulled that off before I was turned; being a vampire also improved my vocal cords, as it had the rest of my body, although in every day speech, it was hardly noticeable.

The roads I was on were very dusty, and I trailed a cloud of the fine particles behind me. That was but one of the few times I was glad Vick had put charms on my car to keep it from getting dirty, or else the paint would be a disgusting brown color by now.

Just a few minutes later, the towering, lopsided structure of the Burrow came into view, and I slowed just enough to make the turn off, even though I had to slam the brakes and pull the car into a skid to make it. It was a maneuver I'd learned from Vick when we were board and decided to go out racing on back roads. Needless to say, we went through a lot of tires when we did that.

Apparently, they'd seen me coming from the windows because everybody filed out of the house to see what was going on when I'd pulled up and crawled to a stop. They were all looking at the car somewhat confused, 'they' being the Weasley elders, Fred and George, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. I didn't see Sirius, which surprised me, but I guess that just meant he wasn't there, at least not yet.

I removed the key, opened my door, and stepped out, head to toe in black, including sunglasses, with only my silver dragon pendant giving me any color. And they all just stared at me for a moment, open mouthed, eyes darting back and forth between me and my obviously expensive car and clothes. Finally, getting tire of it, I gave a little wave and said, "Hello."

[][][][][][]

Hermione had been the first to hug me, or maybe the appropriate word would be attack? after I'd broken the silence. Pretty much everyone else followed suite, but Ron just stood there, staring between me and the car. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Mrs. Weasley to take our little reunion inside.

"It's so good to see you again, Harry!" she gushed, and began fussing over the length of my hair, and how my clothes were lacking in cheerful color. She then proceeded to try and feed me everything in the house, as was the norm.

"I'm fine, honestly!" I laughed, a bit overwhelmed. "I'm not hungry!" I said to stress my point, and I slipped out of the woman's claws and she let me go, watching me calculatingly, although I have no idea what she was looking for. I didn't stick around to see she found it.

I was on the stairs in a moment, taking them two at a time up to Ron's room, where I knew he, his sister, Hermione, and the twins had congregated soon after the Weasley matriarch started fussing over me, knowing I'd join them as soon as possible. Being the little sneak I was, I slowed my steps and walked noiselessly towards the door, using my advanced hearing to eavesdrop.

"Did you see what he's wearing?" I hear Ron hiss to the others. "And that car? Wherever he went, he's probably turned into a pompous git!" He exclaimed, while I inched closer to the door, instinctually avoiding a creaky floor board. The jealousy in my red haired friend's voice was dripping off of every word, and I frowned a bit.

"You don't know that, Ron!" Hermione shot back. "There could be a reason for all of this . . . these things . . ." she trailed off, and I knew she was trying to analyze the situation to explain it. Her continued silence meant she didn't have any substantial arguments, at least not right now.

Ron snorted. "Do you actually believe that Hermione? When I first saw him today, I didn't recognize him. More than just his looks must have changed, I know it! For all we know, he could be just like Malfoy now!" he spat furiously.

I chuckled. It's not like he was _entirely_ wrong. I had picked up a few habits from Draco. I began listening again as Ginny came to my defense.

"Don't say things like that! Yes, he may have changed, but I don't think he'd change like _that!"_

The twins joined in. "Yeah, we agree with you, little sis." chimed Fred.

"We've got some money now too," his brother continued.

"But it hasn't really changed us." Fred finished up.

Ron grumbled. "Yeah, whatever, but I still don't believe you. Hey, what was that for?" Hermione had smacked him upside the head. I chuckled softly and decided it was now time to make my entrance.

They were still deep in conversation when I knocked, and I could hear perfectly through the wall that they all jumped. This day just kept getting better and better. Although, I really had to stop and wonder for a moment how much I _had_ changed now that causing slight uncomforting feelings in my friends was enjoyable . . . I shrugged my thoughts off and entered, not really caring to dwell on them.

I didn't wait for them to tell me to come in, the knock was simply just to warn them. I slid gracefully inside and plopped down on the floor with Ginny since the beds were currently occupied by the other four. "How is everybody?" I asked, glancing around, breaking the metaphorical ice.

"We're all doing pretty fine. Well, we are now that Mum's not stressing about where you are anymore." Ginny said with a slight grin.

I bowed my head in mock shame. "Oh, how ever will you forgive me for making you all worry even _after_ I'd sent you all letters saying I was fine." I shook my head in mock defeat. "What a horrible person I am!"

The tension more or less melted away after that, and we got deep into conversation, however, the twins had to leave to go check on their joke shop, which they'd left in the capable (or so they'd hoped) hands of their employees. I bid them farewell with promises of meeting up again soon.

After a while, Ron just had to ask, "So, where'd you get that car? I don't have to be a muggle to see that it probably cost a fortune." He commented, and I glanced over at him from my new lounging position across from him and Hermione on the other bed.

"If you must know, it was a birthday present."I stated simply, nonchalantly, as though it was none of his business. And really, it wasn't.

He sputtered at my words. "A _present?" _I nodded. "Who in their right mind would get something that expensive for someone as a present?" He apparently couldn't wrap his mind around the idea that the filthy rich had no price limits. They just bought whatever struck their fancy. Which was why Vic's house, and many of the pureblood wizards, had so many decorations and tapestries in their homes, even though they themselves were worth more than a small fortune.

I decided to humor him. "Someone slightly insane . . . or mentally unstable. Is there really a difference?" ha, Vick, take that.

"So let me get this straight," Ron swallowed. "You spent your summer with an insane rich guy?" his voice was disbelieving.

"Pretty much." I confirmed. And thankfully they let that conversation drop because I didn't know how much 'rubbing in the face' of my shiny new things Ron could take before his jealousy meter went off the charts, but Ginny found a way to bring up something I really didn't feel like focusing on at the moment, and wanted more than anything to keep it a secret except for with those who already knew.

"So, where'd you get that necklace?" she asked from her place beside me on the bed, fingering my pendant.

I slid it out of her hand and into my own, "Another birthday present."

"Is that stone real?" She continued.

I nodded, lost in the memory of the person who gave me it. "It's an emerald." I added for good measure, but I didn't feel the need to add that I was given it particularly because it matched my eyes perfectly. I was spacing out now, and I knew the others noticed too, but I didn't want to leave my thoughts yet. It had only been less than a day, but I already missed Draco enough to cause a dull ache in my chest. I shuddered to think what I would be feeling a few days from now.

I fell onto my back, looking at the ceiling, and brooding silently. My friends glanced at me, but then decided to carry on light conversation without me while I held onto my necklace. I let my eyes drift closed, and tried to recreate my love's face on the back of my eyelids.

I was pulled out of my musings a little bit later when I heard someone come out of the floo, and that person's voice carried up to me, but I knew for certain the rest of the room's occupants didn't hear him. It was Sirius. My lips pulled up into a gentle smile at the thought of finally seeing my godfather again, but I made no move to get up to greet him. After all, I wasn't supposed to know he was here yet. However, after a quick conversation with Mr. Weasley, he thundered his way up the stairs at a breakneck pace, continuing down the hall to this room, and bursting through the door. Upon his arrival, I pulled myself up into a sitting position, ignoring the startled looks on my friends' faces, and smiled. "Hi, Sirius."

"Why you little . . ." the black haired man said, his face contorted in momentary anger, before it melted away and he pulled me into a crushing hug. Well, it was for him, but he'd have to try a lot harder to squish me anymore. He pulled back just as quick as he'd grabbed me. "What did you think you were doing, taking off like that? You could have been captured, could have been killed! But more importantly, why didn't you take me with you?" he demanded, panting heavily and out of breath.

I slid my hand through my hair. "Sorry, Sirius." I said with a sheepish grin.

**Would you consider this a cliffhanger? Oh well, there'll be more on Harry and Sirius's reunion in the next chapter.**

**Also, I'd love to reach a hundred reviews for this chapter! I'm so close, only ten away, so I think we can do this ^^ It would also give me a bit more motivation to get the next chapter out sooner, if that means anything to you . . .**


	11. Tell Me Why I Left the Manor, Again?

**Disclaimer: If anyone says I own Harry Potter then I like them. But sadly, 'tis all lies. So maybe you'll want to stone them. I dunno. Whatever floats your boat.**

**BTW, do you guys want me to answer the questions in your reviews? I've been debating doing that for a while, but I've been too lazy to. But I figure since you put the time in to review, I'd be a bit of an ass not to get back to you. So just put something about wanting a reply in your review and I'll get back to you. Or maybe I'll just start replying to anything with a question. But I have no intention of going back through the old reviews, so anything you asked before you'll have to ask again.**

**Other than that, please enjoy ^^ But I personally think this is a pretty slow chapter. I'll have to get them back in school soon and make things interesting.**

I stared up at the shadowed ceiling as the minutes ticked by. It was sometime past one a.m. now. It had only been a few minutes away from the hour since the last time I'd checked, and that time had undoubtedly passed by now. As it were, I was still finding it difficult to sleep during the night. It just seemed unnatural, like sleeping during the day had when I was still human.

As I lay there, in the spare twin bed set aside for me in Ron's room, listening to the red head's gentle snoring, I drifted back to the events that happened earlier this evening.

Soon after Sirius had arrived, Mrs. Weasley had decided it was dinner time. She'd been planning a late one because I'd never said when I'd be arriving in the letters I'd sent. Sirius had practically dragged me down the stairs, awkwardly at that, because he still felt unable to let me go after getting a hold of me after so long. Needless to say, I tripped and stumbled, and we nearly fell down a flight of stairs. It would have been worse for him, though.

I ended up sitting next to my godfather at the table. A general conversation was struck up around as food was passed around, but Sirius was intent on monopolizing me, apparently figuring that since I'd already been with the Weasleys for a while that everybody else had had their fill of me and now it was his turn.

He'd grilled me on where I'd been, what I'd been doing, who I'd been with (Was there any romance going on?) I knew he'd meant with girls, so I tried to deny that there was with all I had, and I'm pretty sure he believed me, but he wanted to tease me anyway. (Is my innocent little godson a man now?)

When he'd asked that word for word loudly at the table, I felt a blush heat my face, and mind you, that's not an easy thing to do to a vampire, since our blood congregates more around our hearts and less in our other extremities. Point being, you had to be damn embarrassed to blush. And of course I denied all possibilities of that question having any truth to it either. Draco and I _had_ shared a room for a while there, yes, but we'd never gotten any farther than snogging and feeling each other up, even if we did come close a few times.

Dinner was a bit awkward after that. I didn't say much, hoping not to draw attention to myself.

Mrs. Weasley had been the one to portion out the food to everyone, and I was no exception. She'd piled mine just as high as the others, and I was one of the few who normally ate it all, being starved by the Dursley's over the summer and all. So it struck her as strange when I hadn't even eaten half of it and I was just pushing the rest around my plate absentmindedly, following along with the conversation and joining in whenever I wanted to, Sirius no longer forcing me to concentrate my attentions to him. I was internally grateful he'd decided to leave me along. I wasn't sure how much more of his verbal prodding, however good nature it may be, I could take.

"Aren't you feeling well, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked worriedly after a while, a small frown on her face.

"I'm fine," I replied, "I'm just not that hungry." I said with a slight smile. No matter how overbearing her mothering might be at times, I'd missed it since the last time I'd really spent time with the Weasley's last summer.

"You're not feeling sick, are you? You do look a little pale." She noted, and had her hand pressed to my forehead almost instantly.

I shook her off just as quickly, hoping she didn't notice the unnatural coolness that came with my vampirism, but it was just a precaution. I could simply say I was just feeling chilly, if necessary. "No, I just had a little something to eat on the way here, is all." I replied. That excuse got me off that time, but what was I to say for the rest of my stay? I had no intention of forcing myself to eat this human food if I didn't want to.

After everybody was done eating, we all split off into our separate groups once again, Mrs. Weasley assuring us all that she could handle the clean up by herself. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and I had made for the living room, occupying most of the furniture the way we were splayed out, only this time Sirius joined us, serving as my foot rest on the couch I was sprawled out on.

To avoid more questions about where I'd been, to which all answers would be lies, half truths, or just left unanswered, I tactfully deflected the conversation onto my friends, inquiring as to what they'd been doing. Sirius and nothing interesting to share, having been cooped up in Grimmauld place, and the same was true for Ron, only he'd been at the Burrow. Hermione, on the other hand, told us all about her family's trip to Egypt.

Apparently, she'd wanted to go ever since Ron had, the summer after second year, after he'd told her about all of the amazing sights and information there. She couldn't get over how the pyramids had looked in the photographs, and she wanted to learn about them in person rather than books. And she'd finally gotten what she wanted, after begging her parents to take her ever since.

When she'd finally been done, it was eleven thirty, and everyone was beginning to get tired, sans myself, so we all headed to bed, and Sirius went home, with promises to stop in after lunch the next day.

Ron pulled on his faded, hand-me-down striped pajamas, while I pulled on brand new emerald silk ones. That earned me an incredulous look that held a slight amount of jealousy as well. As he shook it off, he asked humorously, "Another present from a rich guy?"

I smiled. "Nah, I got these myself. They're very comfortable too, if I do say so myself." And then I flopped down onto my bed, not the least bit tired, and Ron crawled into his as well.

"G'night." He mumbled sleepily, already halfway to dreamland, snuggled under his covers and his head resting comfortably on his pillow.

"Night." I said back, and just lay there and listened to his rhythmic breathing deepen into sleep, wide awake, but relaxed.

And so there I was, lying around, barely feeling the dregs of tiredness, but wallowing in how big and cold even this cozy little twin bed seemed without Draco sharing it with me. This had been the first time I'd slept by myself in weeks, and it was disconcerting. It was almost hard to believe that Draco had had such an impact on me, that I was used to his constant presence to such a degree, in such a short amount of time. But he had.

I wondered if he was having the same trouble now, lying awake, staring at the ceiling, thinking about me as I was him. I decided then that I'd write him when I woke tomorrow, and then forced my eyes to close, hoping for sleep to take me away from the conscious thoughts. It didn't happen. I sighed. This was going to be a long night.

[][][][][][]

Needless to say, I slept through breakfast the next day, and thankfully nobody came to wake me. I almost slept through lunch too if it weren't for Ron coming back into his room with an irate Hermione tagging along. "You haven't done any of your summer homework yet? But you told me you'd started on it _ages_ ago! Honestly, Ronald!" she shrieked at him, forgetting my presence entirely until I groaned and shifted where I lay, finally brought back to the world of the living.

"Oh, I'm sorry Harry!" She said after realizing what she'd done, "I didn't mean to wake you, honest. But you really should be getting up around now anyway, so it's not really a bad thing." She justified.

I smiled slightly. "S'all right, Hermione, no harm done." I said and sat up slowly, the silk night shirt I'd worn unbuttoned to bed last night falling off of my shoulders and pooling around my forearms. Not that I really minded. I had nice abs, why not show them off a little?

Hermione pretended to be cross with me for 'undressing in the presence of a lady,' told me to get dressed, and stormed out of the room with Ron looking after her wondering what was wrong. It wasn't like she hadn't seen us shirtless before. But I knew the reason. There had been a faint blush on her cheeks, and despite being like brother and sister, we weren't technically related so there wasn't really anything wrong with her liking the sight of me shirtless. But then again, Ron would be insufferable if he knew the reason for her quick departure, so I just played dumb as well and left him to ponder the event on his own.

After a moment, Ron turned his attention back to me. "Anyway mate," he began, "lunch is ready, and mum really was gonna wake you soon if you didn't get up. I'll meet you down, then." He said, and I nodded, sending him on his way, his stomach growling.

Now that my mission was to get presentable, I turned to my trunk located at the end of the bed. I'd brought it inside, along with Hedwig's cage, last night after things had died down a bit. As for Hedwig herself, I'd told her to take her time getting here, so she had yet to arrive. She'd probably turn up that night after she'd rested and eaten.

I pulled a loose pair of black pants, clean boxers, and a black muscle shirt out and promptly dressed, still wearing my ever present dragon pendant. I slipped on a pair of simple black flip flops to complete the casual summer look, and made my way downstairs to where I would undoubtedly pick at lunch.

As soon as I walked into the dining area, I felt Ginny's stare on me. I sighed internally and wondered if my outfit was a bit too much for her, given that I knew it was sexy because I'd worn it, or something close to it, for Draco before. But then again, it was hot out, and this was one of the coolest things I owned . . .

But her gaze did make me feel a bit awkward. And it didn't seem like she was going to let up either. I internally shrugged. There wasn't really anything I could do about it right now.

"Well, come on, Harry dear, what are you waiting for?" Mrs. Weasley called when I hovered in the doorway for a bit, feeling awkward, and missing the seclusion of my manor home. Because it was technically mine now too. As Vick's heir, I had a right to everything he owned, unless he specified otherwise. So unless he kicked me out or disowned me, which was highly unlikely, I could always find sanctuary there.

Suppressing a sigh, I walked to the table and sat down, politely asking that someone pass the plate of turkey sandwiches. I ate half of it and then I was done. This time it was Hermione who bugged me about my lack of appetite.

"Why aren't you eating, Harry?" she asked me in a mothering tone, eyes showing slight worry.

I answered smoothly, "I usually don't eat that much for breakfast, and seeing as I just woke up . . ." I trailed off, letting her fill in the blanks.

She scowled, but her face soon smoothed again. "Alright, if you say so. But you didn't eat that much last night either, so let us know if you're feeling sick, alright?" she waited for my answer.

"Of course, Mione." I said with a slight smile, wanting to make her happy so she wouldn't spend her day worrying about my lack of appetite. She'd better get used to it soon anyway, I mused, because it wasn't going to ever change. If anything, I'd start eating less as time progressed.

Lunch was soon over, and Hermione drug us all back up to Ron's room, Ginny included.

Once we were there, she declared "You are all going to do your summer homework, now if you please." although there was no ounce of request in her demand. "You will _not_ be rushing to do it all on the train like you did last year, and the year before that, and the one before _that_!" she rated, out of breath by the time she was done.

Ron, looking chastised, grumbled unhappily that he would do it so long as Hermione gave him a hand where he needed it.

Ginny, on the other hand, just shrugged. "Alright, but I only have Transfiguration and half of Herbology left to do, but I guess doing it in a group is more fun than alone." So she left to go collect her things and return.

Hermione looked to me next. "Well, Harry?" she asked over the thumping of Ron digging through his text books and throwing them won-ton all over the floor when they weren't the right one.

"I have mine done." I replied easily, lounging on my bed, head resting on the pillow, eyes drooping sleepily. It made me wonder how late I was up until last night, because I hadn't checked. It must have been well into the morning for me to still be this tired after sleeping until noon.

Her eyes narrowed in disbelief, just as Ron's widened with the same emotion. "You can't be serious, mate!" he exclaimed in horror, which I perceived to be genuine. "Please tell me you're lying." He begged. "You can't be turning into another Hermione! Who else am I going to have for company when I have to stay up doing homework the night before its due?"

"Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed and cuffed him upside the head. "Don't encourage bad behavior! We wouldn't want him to relapse, especially if he's telling the truth."

I gasped, feigning mock hurt. "You really doubt me so, Mione dear? I'm crushed!" I pretended to fall into depression, lying listlessly there on the bed. Her only response was a raised eyebrow. I rolled over and sat up with a sigh. "Fine, I'll get it out for proof." I crawled my way pathetically, for theatrical purposes only, to the end of the bed where my trunk lay in wait.

I had my trunk locked, with a new security feature Snape had helped me add less than a week ago. The lock was now keyed into my blood. So as I reached to open the lock, I inconspicuously jabbed my finger on a small hidden spike, and I heard the click of the lock opening. It might have seemed a tad bit extreme, for the trunk would only open for me unless I keyed someone else into it, but I didn't want to risk anyone stumbling across my new dark arts books, and a few others that didn't quite make the cut as illegal, but were unsavory none the less.

I rummaged through the top layer of books and pulled out a folder from under them that contained all of my completed work. Not even bothering to open it, I tossed it to Hermione, my aim dead on, and she had no trouble catching it.

She wasted no time opening it, pulling the enclosed papers out neatly and precisely, and proceeded to skim over them quickly. Her expression began to morph into one of surprise. "Harry!" she exclaimed, "These are done very well! How did you manage this? There's information in here that's not in the text book. How did you get it?" She was frowning slightly at the end, probably wondering if it really was in the book, but she'd just missed it.

I shrugged, still hanging around over at my trunk. "My summer residence had a library to rival that of Hogwarts'." I said. You could see the instant jealousy on her face.

"And where exactly could possibly have a library like that, do tell?" she more demanded rather than asked, her thirst for knowledge showing through. In all actuality, it would have been completely appropriate to compare her desire for information to a vampire's need for blood. But I'd kept my mouth shut. I didn't need to go spouting things about vampires in front of her. It would just make it easier for her to figure me out in the end.

"Honestly, Mione, I'd be pretty dumb to tell you that." I said like it was obvious, but the others didn't understand why, Ginny just having walked back in to catch the last bit of conversation.

"Why does it matter now?" Ron asked. "You're here, so it's not like we need to go hunt you down."

I scowled. "I never needed _hunt down_ in the first place." I said crisply, but I soon made an effort to get over it, and quickly at that. "If I told you now, I couldn't go back." I said simply.

Ginny looked at me funny, tearing her gaze away from the current essay she was finishing up. "You plan on going back?"

My lips morphed into an easy smile. "Hell yes. That place is home to me now." And I wasn't lying. Vick and I were family, and by rights as his appointed heir, what's his was mine. As soon as he declared me his successor, my name was automatically added to all of his accounts as well as his property deeds. But that still felt strange to me, so I still asked before I spent his, technically our, money.

Ron scowled. "You only spent part of the summer there, how can it be your home?"

"It's not the place that matters, but the people in it." I shot back.

"But then wouldn't this be your home?" he countered.

I sighed, lying back down on the bed, facing the ceiling. I figured I'd better get comfortable for this little debate. "No, Ron, this is your home. Your family, but not mine." I dared a glance at my red-headed friend, and I could see he was quickly becoming furious. "Don't get me wrong," I quickly amended, "I love your family and all, there just not . . . mine." I finished lamely, but pretty sure I'd gotten my point across.

"So my parents, who think of you as one of their sons, aren't your family, but some random people you met over the summer, and have known them less than two months, make the cut?" he was still mad.

"That's about right." I said, "But it's not quite that simple. You just wouldn't understand." I trailed off wistfully. They couldn't. None of them could. They'd all always had families to call their own.

Ron snorted, and decided to keep up the argument, and Hermione and Ginny just watched, tense and silent, wondering if they'd have to break us up. "Oh, and why is that? Are we not good enough for you or what?" he spat angrily.

I sat up quickly and turned to face him, my own features now twisted in displeasure as well. "That isn't it at all, Ron, weren't you listening? They're not my family because they already _have_ a family. They don't know what it's like to be on your own. _None _of you do. But those people I met, they did know, and they still do now. They understand what it's like, they get it. People like us, we just click together. That's just how it is."

I'd said more than I'd meant to, and I really didn't want to keep up this conversation, so I stood up and left, not wanting to see their expressions. I didn't even look back when Hermione called my name, desperation for my immediate return ringing in her voice. I sighed. This wasn't exactly how I'd planned my 'homecoming' to go. And I just couldn't help but think that something like this would never have happened back at the manor. . .

I didn't even know where I was going, I just went down the stairs to the ground floor, walking past the elder Weasleys, who shared a worried glance, probably because of my dark expression, and out into the open world. I felt better already, realizing that some of my anxiety may have come from the cramped quarters that I'd become unaccustomed to.

I made my way off the porch and over toward the small Weasley garden, where I plopped down in a patch of grass under a shady oak tree. I sighed I contentment, no longer feeling caged and bothered. It was very warm out and the heat was making me drowsy. I put my arms behind my head as a sort of pillow and I felt myself slowly drift into slumber. What better way for a vampire to pass the day than to sleep?

[][][][][][]

_I dreamt. Death Eaters were chasing me, coming at me from every direction imaginable, and even with my vampiric speed, I was having difficulty staying ahead of them. I kept running down an ancient stone corridor, with passages teeming with enemies shooting off in every w. I never stopped running, but it never seemed like I was getting any farther. Everything just stayed the same. That was when the panic began to grip me. I couldn't possibly have to face this forever. Things _had_ to change . . ._

_And thankfully, or maybe not so depending on how you looked at it, things did begin to alter. In the distance, I could see a mighty dragon rising up out of a chasm of nothingness, regal in its appearance, all silvery shining scales, a majestic build and shining talons. It was a rather terrifying sight to behold, especially when it released a mighty roar that set the endless hall shaking._

_I paused for a moment, wondering what to do. If I stopped, the Death Eaters would kill me for sure, but if I faced the dragon, the same fate could befall me. But I began running in earnest again when I quickly decided which party I'd rather face._

_I was nearly upon the dragon now, out of breath and tiring. Just as I reached the creature, my body went still, and I was unable to move. Panic gripped me as a gigantic silver muzzle lowered over a paralyzed, defenseless me, surrounding me, and swallowed me whole. I heard the dragon's triumphant roar as I began to fall, and the wails of the unsuccessful Death Eaters, who would undoubtedly be punished for their failure._

_And on I fell, so far that I wondered if I was still even inside of the dragon. "Harry," a soft voice called out to me, reverberating in the nothingness. "Harry," it called again, the simple syllables seductive. "Harry," it called again, stronger this time, and I could finally place who it was: it was my Draco, he was here too, but where? I looked around frantically, trying to find him, happiness at not being alone surging through me, and—_

"Harry!" A different voice called, shattering my dreams, and I sat bolt upright, still as death, eyes darting around to find the source, and easily picking the person out in the din of early evening. It was Ginny, and she looked startled. I relaxed a bit, allowing my heart to calm down from the shock of waking and the unpleasantness of the dream.

"What is it, Ginny?" I asked softly, stretching out.

She scowled, "Do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you? And you've been _here_ sleeping this whole time!" she ranted.

I glanced around again, taking in the depth the sun had sank, and asked, "What time is it?"

"It's nearly eight." Was my reply. "We're ready for dinner, you've been making us wait. Come on." She extended her hand which I took, and she helped pull me up to my feet. _Nearly eight,_ I mused, _so much for trying to get off a nocturnal schedule._

I allowed the red headed girl to drag me back to the house where everyone, including Sirius, was already seated at the table, ready to eat. I sighed. This was going to be a long meal.

[][][][][][]

Dinner passed like nearly every meal so far, with me picking uninterestedly at my food and the others fussing about my health. But at least the conversation was lively, mostly thanks to Sirius, whose biting comments and critiques would send the whole table into fits of laughter, and whose own barking laugh set everyone else at ease. Well, except for Mrs. Weasley who had never particularly enjoyed Sirius's brand of humor. She just sat there scowling every time Padfoot opened his mouth.

As time played onward, dinner was long since over, and it was well into the small hours of the night. Thanks to my nearly all day nap and sleeping in lat that morning, I was unable to get any rest now, even though everyone else was already abed. Ron's loud snores from the other bed testified to that.

I, however, had commandeered my friend's desk and was using it to write a long overdue letter to Draco. I wanted to know how he'd been doing and fill him in on my own goings on. I winced as I thought of the boredom he was probably suffering by himself at the Leaky Cauldron. I highly doubted Snape had managed to get him to Hogwarts yet. Besides, if he had, he would have sent me a letter with one of the school's owls by then.

I tapped my quill against the blank parchment, wondering what to write. Not coming up with anything incredibly interesting, I just decided to wing it.

_Dear Light,_

_How cliché would it be to tell you in this first line how much I miss you? Merlin, that sounds mushy, doesn't it? But that doesn't make it any less true. I regret that we had to leave the manor so soon, I was having an enjoyable time there. It was so much easier and more pleasant than being here. Here, I have to hide._

_It's really not that bad, I'm just not used to being around so many people who like to pry, is all. We ended up getting in a discussion about family too, and that all went to hell. I'll tell you more about it later, I don't want to put it in a letter. _

_It's also not easy to just be _me _here either. You know I've changed over the summer, but I can't let those changes show through here. Well, it's not that I can't, I just don't want to deal with the hassle of trying to justify them. Plus, everybody keeps bothering me about my lack of appetite. I don't know what I'm going to do when I actually have to _eat_. It won't be fun trying to get away._

_Do you have any idea when you'll be going to Hogwarts? I bet you'll be glad to finally get out of that room, huh? We're going to have to arrange a meeting once we get back to school or else I'm going to end up stealing you as soon as I see you in the halls . . ._

_Forever yours,_

_Dark_

I read and reread the decidedly mush-filled letter, and smiled. I hoped I'd get a reply soon. With that in mind, I sealed and addressed the envelope with only the cryptic 'Light,' and stealthily exited the room and made my way towards the makeshift owlery the Weasley's used to house their owls, and the one that Hedwig now resided in as well. Finding Hedwig, I slipped her one of her favorite owl treats and whispered to her to take this letter to Draco, and where he was staying. She hooted softly and took flight, her snow white wings extended gracefully in flight. I watched her disappear into the horizon, and stood there even longer, enjoying the cool nighttime breeze. Eventually, I forced myself back into the house and up to bed to try and get some sleep before I was inevitably awoken in the morning too early for my liking.

I internally groaned and I slid up the stairs. _How am I going to manage this during school?_

**I just wanna try something new down here . . . ehem, *This is you conscious speaking: You want to review. You must review. Do it. DO IT!* . . . Ok, so maybe that was me, but you get the picture ^^ Thanks for reading and please take the time to review **


	12. The Triumphant Return to Hogwarts

**DISCLAIMER: I still down own Harry Potter, and I'm not holding my breath either. If I was, you wouldn't have a story anymore, let alone an author. **

**NOTICE: CHANGING TITLE! I have every intention of changing the title of this story, shortening it to just THE PATH I WALK. I've been considering doing that for a while, and I've finally decided to. I'll probably do it about a week after my next update, so hopefully everybody gets the message.**

**I want to apologize again for another late update, but at least this time I sorta have an excuse. I was stuck without my laptop on vacation for two weeks, so I couldn't type, as I keep all my story material there (thank the gods it never crashes, because then we'd all be screwed .). I've also had some school stuff to get done over the summer, so that took up a good bit of my time too. I will try my best to get the next update out quicker than this, alright? Thanx for sticking with my horrible updating schedule for so long ^w^.**

**This is just a request, but in your reviews, would you mind reviewing my overall writing? Not just the story line, but how my drivel compares to how a novel would read. I'm really interested in what you guys think. So please, let me know, whether it's just on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being best, or it's just a little critique on my work, all will be appreciated. And kudos for you if you made it through all of my author's notes. I'd generally have gotten bored of what it had to say by now :)**

**P.S. I made this chapter longer than usual in my apology for taking so long ^.^ Enjoi!**

_Dear Dark,_

_The Leakey Cauldron hasn't been too bad, although it is very boring. However, I just got a letter from Uncle Severus saying I get to leave for Hogwarts in two day's time. I'll be very glad for that. I miss not having a potions lab, and I've recently read about a few new brews I want to try out. It'd be better if you were there to help, though, because they are very complex. Perhaps I should just wait to try them until the new term starts._

_To be honest, I rather pity you, what with being stuck with all of those Weasley red heads. Always so cheerful, it makes them bloody annoying, and you know it. They're probably waking you up early and trying to force tons of food down your throat, aren't they? _

_I'm staring out a magically charmed window right now, into a bright grassy field with a lone tree. I don't know who designs these scenes, but they really need some help in the head. I mean, who in their right mind would want to have _this_ as their view? But then again, maybe it's just my interpretation of it that makes it such. The tree all by itself seems so lonely. Or maybe I'm projecting on it. Probably._

_Love,_

_Light_

I smiled as I read Draco's reply to my previous letter, and in the sanctuary of Ron's bedroom, I immediately began penning a new letter for him.

_Dear Light,_

_It great to hear from you! It's sort of embarrassing how ecstatic I was when I saw my owl flying in with the post. I think I frightened the Weasleys with how excited I was about one simple letter. But they'll get over it, now won't they?_

_I resent your pity, although it probably is justified. They do get me up early and try and make me eat everything under the sun, and it's really starting to rub me the wrong way. Even Snuffles, my godfather, is getting on my nerves a bit. He's too clingy and pokes too much fun at people when the subject should be dropped, but I don't really blame him. He's been cooped up in his house for way too long, and I guess he uses these visits to unwind._

_I love your 'lonely tree' metaphor, though. It's very poetic, my lovely blonde. I find I can relate to that too. I have a tree story to tell as well. When I can't stand my present company anymore, I head outside to the single large tree in the back of the property and just sit around under it, brooding. I usually think of you. Vick, too. I miss his idiocy, as well as you sharp wit. The new term can't start fast enough._

_Love,_

_Dark_

I sent my return letter as soon as it was finished. That's pretty much how I spent the dwindling days of my summer, writing Draco. I hung onto his words and waited for the next to arrive. The ache for him in my chest grew every day I went without seeing him. I cursed wizards for not accepting muggle technology. I wished I could phone him, because just hearing his voice would make me feel less depressed. The days drug on.

Ron, Hermione, and I got along pretty well as time passed, but I knew we could all sense the lack of closeness that we'd had before. I honestly hadn't meant to lose that between us, so I was making a conscious effort to spend time with them, only it was hard because they wouldn't stop pestering me, or fussing over me. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time under the tree. I was starting to grow attached to the thing, I even talked to it upon occasions, and I was somewhat sad to leave it when I returned to school.

[][][][][][]

September 1st had finally arrived, and I found myself thanking every god that walked the earth for it.

It was morning at the Burrow, and for once, I'd actually gotten up early, six a.m. to be exact, in my excitement to see Draco again. But of course, no one else had any intentions of being awake before eight o'clock, and we didn't have to leave for the train station until nine. So, already packed, I found myself sitting under my favorite tree, wishing I could take it with me, thinking over some of the time I'd spent with the Weasleys.

My stay had been pleasant, in a torturous sort of way, and even with the annoyances it wrought, I would miss the Burrow. But some aspects of it, I wouldn't be sad to leave behind.

The need to feed, for example, had made my stay somewhat awkward. Because of the return of the Dark Lord, the Weasleys had put wards up around their house that were activated at night, which I found out the first night I'd tried to sneak away and everyone had come at me, wands raised. At first, I'd thought that maybe they'd figured out my secret of vampirism, but thankfully that wasn't the case. But it did, however, pose a problem to satiating my thirst.

It took a few days of a deep, aching hunger to come up with the idea of exiting the wards in my wolf form, where I'd only be detected as an animal and therefore overlooked. My theory worked. I left once more after that, close to my time of departure, so I wouldn't have to worry about sustenance so soon after my return to Hogwarts. But after the first incident, I decided to always have some bottled blood on my person, just in case. I'd honestly been about ready to eat Ron before I'd finally made it past the wards.

[][][][][][]

Only hours later, I found myself in a Ministry car on my way to the London train station. Mr. Weasley had managed to get two of them for us, though he admitted his request was only approved when he'd used my name, although I'm not sure why. Even if it had recently become known that Voldemort really was back, the Ministry still wasn't very fond of me. Maybe I'd had an admirer in the Department of Travel. Who knew?

So there I sat, with Ginny to my left, and Hedwig's empty cage occupying the small middle seat. I'd told her to fly on ahead so she wouldn't have to be cramped all day. Mrs. Weasley was in the passenger seat in the front, chatting away with the Ministry driver while I pondered just why I'd been stuck with Ginny, while Mr. Weasley, Ron, and Hermione followed behind us in the other car.

I was silent as I stole a glance at Ginny. She was blushing, and I could hear that her heart rate was accelerated, obviously from her crush on me. I sighed. Really? They stuck me with her for a matchmaking deal? I was not impressed. I sighed, and turned away when the red haired girl turned toward me, preparing to speak, and gazed out the window.

It's not that I purposely wanted to spurn the girl, but I simply had no interest, what with being gay and having a lover. Plus, if I talked to her here, especially while her mother wasn't paying attention, she'd probably try and put the moves on me. I shuddered in repulsion at the though. It's not that Ginny wasn't a pretty girl, it's simply that her . . . anatomy wasn't what I preferred.

A long silence later, probably awkward on Ginny's part, we arrived at the station. My heart skipped a beat, and my slow breathing picked up slightly. Draco was just out of my reach at Hogwarts, waiting for me. I honestly couldn't wait to get to the school. The sooner the better, as far as I was concerned.

It was obvious to my party that I wanted to get to the train as soon as possible, and there was even a slight hurry to my step. I led the Weasleys to the brick barrier. They never could quite catch up in the crows.

"Slow down there, Harry!" Ron called from behind me. I simply waved him off with the back of my hand and proceeded to walk through onto the platform, just barely remembering to glance around to see if any muggles were watching. Thankfully, none were.

Everyone else was through in no time as well, and Ron and Hermione joined me while Ginny said her final goodbyes to her parents and lugged her trunk off towards her friends so they could find a compartment together.

"Really, Harry," Hermione admonished me once she'd caught her breath, "Why were you in such a hurry to get here? We still have fifteen minutes before the train leaves! Honestly, you must have bats for brains." She grumbled the last part, and if it wasn't for my vampiric hearing, I wouldn't have caught it. I smiled slightly, just a small upturning of my lips.

"I just want to make sure we get a good compartment." I lied smoothly; after all, I couldn't exactly tell them I was eager to get back to school to see my Slytherin boyfriend, now could I?

As the minutes ticked by and we only had ten left to get on the train, we all said goodbye to the elder Weasleys, with hugs all around, and some tearing up from the matriarch. Finally aboard the train, we made our way to the back looking for an empty compartment. As it were, the only one left was at the very end of the train.

"Do you need some help with that?" I asked Hermione as she struggled to stow her trunk in the rack above her seat. I didn't wait for an answer though, and just lent a helping hand.

"Thanks," she said once we had it up, and she collapsed on the seat next to her. "That's hard work!" she moaned.

Ron spoke up, "Yeah, and so is homework!" he grumbled.

Hermione frowned. "Not it is not, Ronald! It's easy when you actually try." She lectured.

Ron turned to me for support. "To each his own." I shrugged, and sat down beside Hermione, who cursed under her breath when she looked at her watch.

"Ron, we have to go to the prefect's meeting!" She informed. "If we don't leave now, we'll be late!" she fretted.

"So let us be." The read head grumbled unenthusiastically, obviously not looking forward to the drab gathering.

She frowned. "We can't. We have to set the example for the younger students, so we _must_ be on time! Now go!" she shooed him toward the compartment door, but before she left, she turned to me. "We're sorry for leaving you like this, Harry, but we have to . . ." she trailed off, anxiety on her face. Apparently she thought she was being a bad friend if she left me here alone.

I waved her off. "Go on, I know you wouldn't leave me if you didn't have to." I said with a reassuring smile, letting her know I wasn't mad.

She smiled back gratefully. "We should only be gone for about half the ride, but maybe more depending on what we're discussing." She informed.

"Alright, I'll see you then." And they left, shutting the door behind them.

I sighed, sort of relieved to be left in solitude. I'd missed the quiet. I also felt tired. My earlier energy and adrenaline were deserting me, leaving me feeling drowsy. No matter how excited I was by the prospect of seeing Draco tonight after two weeks of separation, I couldn't fight the tiredness, and since I had no one to keep company, I decided to take a nap. I lay myself down on one of the seats and closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to come to me.

I was about to drift off into dreamland when I heard the door open, which caused my lips to curve downward a slight amount. It was way too early for my friends to be back, after all, they'd only been gone a whole ten minutes, so unless one of my other friends came to see me, I'd no idea who it was, and I didn't feel like opening my eyes.

The door closed once again, only there was a beating heart inside the room with me now. With the closing of the door, a scent drifted over to me on the breeze it created, and I jumped a mile in the air once I'd recognized it.

"Draco!" I practically screeched, now wide awake with eyes wide open, glued to the figure of my slim blonde lover before me.

He was wearing a lazy smirk, although I could see the open warmth in his eyes clearly. His scent surrounded me, familiar, comforting, as was the rhythmic beating of his hear. "It's been a while." Was all he had time to say before I jumped on him.

"Draco." I said again, slightly breathless as I pulled him into a crushing hug, but still minding his fragile human bones. "My Draco." I breathed out, simply reveling in the feel of having in my arms once again.

I don't know how long our embrace lasted, his arms wormed around my waist, our hearts beating side by side. It could have been only minutes, or hours, but it was a perfect moment in time. However, all good things must come to an end. I pulled Draco down onto the seat I'd just vacated, and sat myself beside him, snuggled right up against him.

"What are you doing here?" I fired off the question that had been buzzing in my brain as soon as I'd seen him.

His response was full of mirth. "I finally see you after two weeks, and all you have to say to me are questions about my location?"

I smacked him playfully. "Answer the damn question." I mumbled out with a slight growl, only I wasn't mad at all, just feigning.

He ran a hand through my long black locks as he began to answer my demanded question. "I'd been at Hogwarts a little over a week now, but you already knew that. Only the staff knew I was there at all, somehow I think that Dumbledore figured out I didn't want my whereabouts to be known because I overheard some of the professors talking about how they weren't to say anything about my stay there." He glanced at me before continuing, "I swear, our headmaster knows things he shouldn't. Severus didn't tell him I wanted to stay hidden, that's for sure." His lips were curved into a frown, his thoughts pensive, probably wondering how the old headmaster found out what he did. Did he have ways to spy, or was he just really good at reading people?

To pull Draco from his distractions, I placed a small, chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth, effectively destroying his previous frown. "You were saying?" I innocently said, my eyes theatrically wide.

He smiled at me. "Last night after dinner, Dumbledore asked me to stay behind for some reason. Naturally, since he was giving me sanctuary, I complied. It seemed he wanted me to ride the train back to Hogwarts as to not raise suspicion for why I was already there in the first place. It was also a chance to see you, so of course I wasn't going to turn it down."

His voice had turned a bit husky toward the end of his story, and I picked up on it quickly, and just after he pulled me into a deep kiss. It was mind-blowing, the feel of his soft, sweet lips on mine again after so long. Minutes passed and the kiss deepened, and I leaned farther into my love, pulling him closer to me as I did so. I parted my lips and breathed onto his mouth, my tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip, demanding rather than asking for entrance into his luscious mouth.

He easily complied, and my tongue soon won the short lived battle for dominance. The kiss itself was amazing, and through it we communicated more than we would have in an hour of talking and catching up. He told me though his movements just how much he had missed me, how much he had wished I was there beside him, how hard it was for him to sleep without me beside him at night.

He also told me that he was worried about the coming year, worried about how we'd stay together, worried about how we'd treat each other in the halls, worried about Voldemort. The list went on. In turn, I projected to him all my feelings of love, and happiness at being reunited.

Somewhere in between the beginning of the kiss and now, we ended up lying on the seat, Draco under me, and myself between his legs, our chests touching, our mouths moving. I groaned into the kiss, and shifted my hips slightly on his, pulling another groan from my throat, and one from his as well.

I did it again, and Draco's responding gasp broke the kiss, so while he recovered, I moved on to his neck, lightly sucking and biting, all the while gently rolling our hips together. Draco groaned. It was only when I really started to get hard, and Draco as well, I could feel his length pushing into my thigh, that I pulled back, breathing heavy.

"Draco," I gasped, "are you alright with this?" I asked him breathlessly. After all, the last thing I wanted to do was push him to hard and too fast and end up losing him.

He looked at me through lust lidded eyes. "What do you think?" he asked me huskily, and pulled my face down so our lips met again, while simultaneously thrusting his hips up into mine.

I smirked into the kiss. "I guess I'll take that as a yes." I mumbled through his lips, and thrust harder into his hips, while sliding his shirt up with one of my hands, the other holding part of my weight so I didn't crush Draco.

I ran my hand over his taught and quivering stomach, and slowly inched teasingly higher to his nipples, which were already hard. I lightly pinched one, and Draco gasped, breaking the kiss when he was overcome by stimulation. Once he recovered, he latched himself onto my neck, and sucked hard, most definitely leaving a mark, but with my vampire healing, it wouldn't last long.

I moved my hand to his other nipple, the first being sufficiently teased, and repeated the process. We continued on like that for a while until the throbbing of my manhood began to become painful, and with a groan, I pulled away from Draco, sitting up on my knees, and momentarily admiring his flushed form beneath me, until I dove for the clasp on his pants, intent of relieving him of his hard on.

An hour passed, and content, we lie together, very close indeed, on the bench in the compartment, silent and comforting, loving the contact, and satisfied in many ways. Hours later, it seemed, we finally had to pull apart and go our separate ways.

I sat up, pulling Draco with me. Reluctantly, I said, "Ron and Hermione will be back soon." And that was enough to get the message through. If we didn't want to be caught together, then Draco would have to leave. It wrenched at my heart to watch him go quietly, so soon after getting him back.

And he left without complaint, just stealing one last embrace from me, as well as a sweet, lustless kiss.

I sighed in the oppressing silence of the compartment that now consumed my surroundings. With nothing better to do, I pulled out my wand and cast a refreshening charm. It wouldn't do for the air to smell like sex when my friends got back. I smiled as I cast the spell, thinking back on Draco. Although we hadn't gone all the way, we sure as hell had gotten somewhere.

That done, I lay back down on the bench, much more spacious now that I had it all to myself, and, influenced by the light of the day and previous exhausting activities, began to drift to sleep. It was only minutes later I was awoken by the door opening, and my arguing friends rejoined me, none the wiser of my earlier company.

I sat up with a yawn, jaws opening wide, and said with a soft smile, "Welcome back."

Hermione being Hermione, smiled back as well, saying that the prefect meeting went well, but she was glad to be free once again.

Ron simple grumbled, "It was horrible, mate! Worse than last year, I recon. You're lucky you didn't get picked for this sodding prefect business." Whereas, Hermione smacked him upside the head for his language.

I chuckled at their antics. "I'll take your word for it, Ron." And after that, Hermione was glaring at me, too.

After things settled down, we passed the rest of the ride in comfortable companionship, playing exploding snap, and munching on chocolate frogs from the trolley.

"Harry . . ." Hermione began after a while, "You seem, I dunno, happier? Since we got on the train. It's like you were tense or something over the summer, but now . . ." the brainiac was having trouble describing what she meant.

I shrugged nonchalantly as the snap cards exploded on me, and I lost the game. "It's just good to be going home." I said, although this year, that wasn't exactly true. My home was now at Vick's manor, but they didn't need to know that. But Hogwarts was sort of like the home I'd grown up in, but then moved out of, like children move away from their parents. Only I was going back. A bit of a strange metaphor, really, but it sufficed.

Not long after that deep bit of conversation, we felt the train begin to slow, so Ron and I decided to put our robes on, and Hermione already had hers on (Honestly, boys! Why must you always wait until the last minute?).

Robes on and train stopped, the three of us joined the mass exodus off the train, and scrambled quickly towards the carriages in Ron's wake. He said he was starving and wanted to get to the Great Hall as soon as possible, but Hermione shot him down saying that no matter when they got there, they'd still have to wait until after the sorting to eat. Ron started moping like a child then. It was quite hilarious, really, but I did my best to keep my mirth concealed.

I opened a carriage door, bowing slightly, "Ladies first." Hermione smiled graciously and entered, Ron lagging behind. Neville caught up to us as well, and asked to join. "Of course," I waved him on in, and shut the door, leaving myself outside and my friends wondering what the bloody hell I was doing.

"Don't worry, I'll still be riding with you. Just not inside." I said. You see, as we were walking toward the carriages, I got the bright idea to ride on the back of one of the thestrals instead of inside the stuffy thing it was pulling.

I allowed the one hitched to our carriage to sniff my hand, and having done so, it proceeded to rub its head on my hand, telling me it wanted pet. I smiled slightly. No thestral had ever acted like this for me before. Maybe it sensed something in me akin to it. After all, we were both considered dark creatures.

The other carriages began to pull away, everyone but me inside of one, and Neville hanging out the door, watching me with a question on his face, mouth opening as if to voice it. However, I jumped onto the back of the thestral nimbly before he could get any words out. I turned back to him and grinned. He just shook his head at me, and slipped back inside as we got on our way.

From my perch on the thestral, I could easily make out the words of Neville telling the others what I was doing, and I clearly heard Hermione's protests. "Honestly? What is that boy thinking? He could get in trouble!" but I'd never heard it said that you had to ride _in _the carriages up to the school, so what could it hurt?

The thestral swayed as it walked, its gait slow and steady, plodding along. I found myself falling into rhythm with it, moving as it did, watching the land pass by as we moved toward the castle. I watched the quidditch pitch pass by, along with the lake, where I could faintly make out the first year boats, and of course Hagrid, who stuck out like a mountain among the young children.

Nearly ten minutes had passed by the time the trip from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts began, and we were not arriving at our destination. Those who had already arrived were slipping out of their carriages, many of them giving me strange looks because it appeared as I wasn't riding anything to them, the lucky souls who had never seen death.

The carriage stopped, and I slipped quietly to the ground, making no sound, and stroked the thestral absentmindedly as I waited for my friends to get out. They did swiftly, Ron seeming to have forgotten that getting to the Great Hall sooner didn't mean food would come quicker, and he drug us all away quickly, shouting at us to hurry up.

We all complied, figuring it wasn't worth it to fight him, and we ended up sitting at a nearly empty table, myself beside Hermione, and Ron and Neville sitting together across from us.

"Why won't food show up?" Ron wined, poking at his empty plate with his fork.

Hermione scowled at him. "Enough of that rubbish. Now hush, the sorting will be starting soon." If by soon, she meant at least ten minutes for the rest of the school to meander inside after chatting with their friends, she was right.

As she shushed everybody, I let my gaze wonder up to the professors' table, searching for my sire. My eyes soon landed on Vic, for he was unmistakable up there. His long blonde hair stood out from the more muted tones of the other professors. And he looked bored out of his mind. At least until he caught my gaze anyway.

I saw a slight spark in his mischievous eyes as they met mine, and he winked, but of course no one else caught it, wrapped up in their own affairs as they were. I saw his eyes dart to my currant company as well, taking in whom my friends were, hopefully so he would know who not to give a hard time to during his class. I could only hope those were his intentions. Maybe he really just wanted to bug the crap out of them so it would annoy me. That option was very plausible as well. With Vic, I could only guess.

Eventually, the sorting did get under way, with the nervous first years being led in by Professor McGonagall, who looked as strict and daunting as ever. That probably didn't help the new students get over their fears easily. Come to think of it, parading them in front of the entire school and singling them out one by one for every person in the room to ogle didn't exactly make one's first Hogwarts experience very memorable, or at least not in a pleasant way. But that's not entirely true. Once they finally get sorted, and are welcomed into their new houses with roaring applause, things tend to seem better. As it were, it did for me.

A good bit of time later, the last student, a girl by the name of Zyfell, Jeanette, was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Dumbledore stood up for his traditional short speech before the feast commenced. He stood regally before his podium, or as regal as he could be in periwinkle robes with neon embroidery around the hems, and said, "I welcome all students to Hogwarts this year, the new and the old. Now, I do believe you all deeply desire for me to step back, and allow you all to eat, so, with that overwhelming consensus, I shall do just that. Enjoy!" and he returned to his seat with a smile coloring his lips and a twinkle in his eye. I rolled my eyes good-naturedly at him. I truly wondered why he even bothered to give beginning of the year speeches when they were that pointless.

The tables filled with enormous platters of food of all sorts, sans sweets as they would come later. An exclamation of jubilation came from Ron, who promptly piled his plate high with half the contents of the serving plates before us. I put a small piece of turkey on my dish, blanketed it with a layer of gravy, and poured myself a shallow bowl of cream of potato soup, and began to nibble at it. There was no conversation in the hall as of yet, as everyone was more or less taken with filling their empty bellies, but chatter would soon be ringing off the walls, no doubt.

"Harry," Hermione said after swallowing a bite of mashed potatoes, "You're still not eating very much!" she worried over me. "Are you _sure_ you're feeling all right?"

"I'm fine, just not very hungry." I assured her.

"It seems you're never hungry anymore." Grumbled Ron around a chicken leg.

I wrinkled my nose slightly in distaste, an admonishment for talking with his mouth full on the tip of my tongue, but I bit it back. "Just because I don't have three stomachs like someone I know, doesn't mean I'm not hungry. Compared to you, it's no wonder it doesn't look like I eat much. I'll stick with normal portion sizes, thank you very much."

Ron stared at me for a moment, before shrugging, deeming me a lost cause. "You don't know what you're missing, mate." And once again, he was shoveling food into his face.

Turkey finished, I sipped at my soup, spoonful after spoonful, and found myself rather liking it. Maybe it had something to do with the delicious taste of it, or maybe it had to do with it being a creamy liquid whose texture reminded my palate of that of blood. I'm thinking it was the later.

Soon enough, the main course disappeared and a wide array of deserts took their place. I promptly grabbed myself a rather large slice of chocolate cake, and began to devour it, relishing in the rich goodness.

"So you won't eat healthy food, but you'll gorge yourself on junk food?" Hermione was looking at me exasperated.

I smiled, "To each his own." I said in an exaggerated mysterious tone.

"At least he's eating." Ron supplied with a shrug.

Hermione sighed, shoulders slumping. "I give up. There's no reasoning with either of you, is there?" she groaned.

"Come on, Hermione. A sweet tooth isn't really that bad, is it?" I prompted her, trying to pull her out of her slump. I didn't see why she fell into one anyway. Maybe it was like when she was trying in vain to get us to do our homework during the past years. We'd generally ignore her, and she'd get all aloof. "If it makes you feel better, I'll have some apple pie too . . ." I trailed off.

She snorted a laugh. "Apples are good, yes, but not so much when they're part of a pie. I think you'd be better without." So I simply went back to my cake, relishing the smoothness of the chocolate on my tongue.

Disserts disappeared when the hour was striking nine, and the younger students especially were starting to yawn, whether the sleepiness was caused by their full bellies, or tiring themselves out from earlier excitement, I didn't know, and the heads of houses promptly instructed the prefects to escort the house's new students to their respective dormitories.

The upper Gryffindor students filed out ahead of Ron and Hermione, who were left with the duty of gathering the first years, and I hung back with them as they waited for the children to gather together. When they were all there, the three of us upper years led the way through the halls and the ever changing staircases towards the familiar portrait of the Fat Lady.

Along the way, a brave first year came up to walk beside us, weaseling his way next to me, and asked bluntly, "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?"

I kept moving along, but glanced at him anyway. Coming up with an interesting reply, I said, "Of course not, are you daft? Do you really think Dumbledore would let the Chosen One here in such a public place, especially now that You-Know-Who is back?" I snorted at him. "Of course not! He'd be at too much of a risk from wanna be Death Eater students, obviously. So no, I'm not Harry Potter, I'm just someone sent here who looks like him, so that everybody thinks he's at Hogwarts, and not off at some specialized training camp learning to fight Death Eaters." I finished dramatically, saying it like it should be obvious.

The poor kid believed me too, because he slunk back to the other students, none of which whom had heard the conversation, and walked with them wide eyed in amazement. I chuckled, while Hermione elbowed me.

"Ouch!" I feigned pain, after all, she'd barely put any force behind it. "What'd I do to deserve that?" I demanded, mock angry.

"You shouldn't go spreading rumors to first years like that!" she huffed.

"Way to go mate, did you see the look on his face?" was Ron's opinion on the matter.

"But of course, my friend, I wouldn't have missed it for the world." I said to my red headed friend, whom I grinned at over Hermione's fuming head.

**Remember how your conscious spoke to last time you were here, telling you to review? Well, those of you who reviewed, congratulations, your conscious is very happy and loving you for listening to it! Those of you who didn't on the other hand, well, I think yours might need CPR '-.- Its turning very blue, and looks very sad, indeed. Please, save your conscious from a horrible death today, and review ^^ And remember waaaay back at the beginning when I asked you to review my writing? Well, if you do, your conscious will be feeding your brain cookies for a week. So, ask yourselves, isn't a single review worth a lot of cookies?**


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